How AI has impacted Businesses and Cyber Security

With the constant growth and development of AI tools, how has this affected Businesses, and is it all positive news?

It only seems fairly recently that AI has exploded into the spotlight, yet the progress made in the last few years is phenomenal. Most companies already use AI in some form, whether for note-taking, or for content creation. But does AI pose risks as well as advantages?

AI has provided businesses with some amazing tools which speed up processes and can reduce costs. But cyber attackers are also taking advantage of the ever-growing capabilities of AI. One way hackers are leveraging AI is by generating personalised phishing emails, tailored to individual recipients to more effectively deceive businesses. A major concern is AI’s ability to automate these personalised attacks, sending out thousands of emails or messages within just a few minutes. AI can even go as far as to customise each message based on a users online behaviour, and has the ability to crawl multiple websites and social media to harvest this data for suitable content.

Cyber Attackers are now even using deepfake video generation AI tools to pose as senior company staff in order to trick others into transferring large sums of money. Earlier in the year, UK Engineering company Arup was a victim of such an attack (external link). A hacker impersonating as the Chief Financial Officer of the company arranged a video meeting with a staff member. This video call even included deepfakes of other members of staff, to further deceive the real employee. During the meeting, the hacker managed to convince the staff member into transferring large sums of money, amounting to £20 million.

There are other risks associated with AI. Since the rise in the use of apps such as ChatGPT, people may enter sensitive data into AI within their prompts. However, there is a danger that this sensitive data could get leaked into the public domain. According to recent surveys, as many as 1 in 5 businesses had data exposed by employees use of AI (external link). In 2023, Samsung even banned their staff from using AI due to leaked sensitive data in this way (external link).

Banning AI will not be beneficial to businesses in the long run. These organisations will get left behind, as AI is already giving businesses a competitive advantage by automating tasks, speeding up operations and saving on costs. According to a recent Government report, AI Cyber Security Survey (external link), as many as 68% of businesses use a type of AI technology. So how can companies protect themselves from data leaks through AI? Having policies in place will help businesses to mitigate risks, and they must also ensure that staff are well trained in the correct use of AI. Companies must also check the terms and conditions of any AI apps in use within the company to establish how data might be used and if the AI even claims ownership of any inputed data.

In the past, phishing attacks could be spotted by taking note of the poor English, along with spelling errors. But with AI, attackers are now able to perfect the language of their attacks. Businesses now need to be more vigilant of the signs of a phishing attack, and there are still a few ways to spot one. Download our poster with Cyber Security steps staff can take to avoid becoming victims of phishing attacks. Make sure to put this poster up in your staff room where all staff will be able to see it.

Download our free poster on How to Spot a Phishing Attack

Download our poster with Cyber Security steps staff can take to avoid becoming victims of phishing attacks.

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The most reliable way to protect your business from the increasing threat of AI driven Cyber Attacks is to have Cyber Security in place. Trailblaze IT offer three Cyber Security packages to protect your business, offering different levels of protection to suit your budget and organisation. We will safeguard your sensitive data with round-the-clock protection against emerging threats. We offer three Cyber Security packages that will protect your business from Malware, Ransomware, Phishing and more. Our packages offer the following security solutions:

• Regular Backups
• Disaster Recovery Solution
• 24/7 Monitoring
• 24/7 Threat Detection
• 24/7 Threat Prevention
• Antivirus
• Email Security
• Regular Proactive Cyber Security

We also can provide businesses with our Cyber Security Baseline service, which establishes a minimum set of security controls that companies must implement in order to protect their IT infrastructure, data, and users. These baselines provide a structured, consistent approach to security, ensuring fundamental protections are in place to mitigate risks. Speak to our team today to find out more.