Hackers using AI to scam more people, faster: expert

A screenshot of the warning screen from a purported ransomware attack, as captured by a computer user in Taiwan, is seen on laptop in Beijing, on May 13, 2017. (Mark Schiefelbein / AP)

Artificial intelligence has led to a new era of cyber security risks, a new report from the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) released Thursday has found.

“Cybersecurity professionals are taking AI-driven threats seriously and are actively adapting their defences,” the report said. The report warns that 43 per cent of Canadian organizations faced a cyber attack over the past year.

AI, the new tool in hackers’ arsenal is “more scalable, personalized, adaptive, and convincing,” the CIRA says. Improved fraud techniques, fake images and videos, fake computer-generated voices, and data gathered by AI are key threats that cybersecurity professionals are worried about, the report found.

Writing malicious code and creating deepfakes

These systems can be used to exploit technical vulnerabilities and used in fraud schemes, one cyber security expert told CTV News.

AI can be used in traditional hacking techniques, finding weak points in a program that can be broken into. Or it can be used to target the user of a program, through fraudulent emails or phone calls designed to extract sensitive data, like passwords.

Ritesh Kotak, who has worked in cyber security for law enforcement and private companies, said that there is an increase in the way that AI is being used, “writing malicious code… exploiting vulnerabilities."

AI can help hackers find weak points and write code to break programs faster than they could before its invention, Kotak told CTVNews.ca on Thursday.

Hackers and developers are always in an arms race Kotak said, and AI can work for either side. He called it the “sword and shield analogy,” where AI can be used to assist in offensive malicious hacks, as a “sword,” or be used as a tool for defence like a “shield.”

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Financial institutions could use AI to detect anomalies faster than humans could, he said. That AI could then be used to freeze funds or notify account holders.

“You patch one thing, and then two issues come up, that’s always going to be the case where the bad people are going to be one step ahead,” but Kotak said, but that’s “all the more reason” to leverage the possible advantages of AI for cyber security.

AI opening the door to more ransomware attacks

AI is helping to open up the hacking landscape, Kotak said. He explained that there are groups like LockBit, who hacked Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children in December 2022.

LockBit is a group of hackers who use “ransomware,” a type of program that locks users out of their systems. The group usually only unlocks the systems after the victim pays the ransom to regain access to their files or systems.

Groups like LockBit offer guides, support and products for new hackers, who Kotak said become “affiliates” of the group.

According to him, the incident that occurred in 2022 with the children’s hospital was due to LockBit’s techniques being used in a ransomware attack on its systems.

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Bitdefender, an antivirus developer, “observed a rise in ‘lone wolf’ ransomware operators” - individuals acting on their own to engage in ransomware hacks.

Tools like AI can help these “lone wolf” hackers punch above their weight by automating menial or tedious tasks, allowing the hacker to focus on bigger or multiple operations at once.

AI can help new hackers use the tools and malware that others have developed, he said. Larger organizations like LockBit will also offer to help train new hackers, for a cut of their spoils.

There is a condition for using the group’s software and techniques - they collect a royalty from their affiliates, Kotak added.

However, hacking a children’s hospital was against LockBit’s rules and the group issued an apology in the aftermath.

These groups have support, products, collect royalties, and even a public relations department, Kotak said.