Former FBI cyber leader Cynthia Kaiser explains how AI is creating new opportunities for everyone - but it may be the “stupid criminals” that create some of the most unpredictable consequences.
AI is changing the cyber threat landscape, but not every attacker is using it in the same way. In this special crossover episode of Ctrl Alt Lead and Ready Set Mid-Market, former FBI cyber leader Cynthia Kaiser, now leading ransomware research at Halcyon, breaks down the emerging breed of AI-powered cyber criminal. Nation states can dedicate specialist teams to experimenting at the cutting edge, while ransomware operators tend to incorporate AI into playbooks that already make them money. Then there are the previously “non-capable” attackers using AI to do things they simply could not do before.
Cynthia explains why the latter group can be particularly unpredictable, including creating ransomware so poorly that even paying for a decryptor cannot recover the data, edging towards what she calls “destructionware”.
We also explore AI-enabled phishing and voice cloning, the continuing importance of manipulating human trust, why SMEs shouldn't dismiss nation-state threats, and how defenders can use AI and automation to fight back.