Artificial intelligence is one of the most discussed topics as it has applications in virtually every vertical that we can think of and cybersecurity is no exclusion. Many experts advocate employing AI in cybersecurity as it helps you identify threats and automate monitoring. On the other side are experts who believe that hackers can also use AI to their advantage and create sophisticated cybersecurity attacks that are hard to detect and mitigate.

If you are still confused about how artificial intelligence will impact cybersecurity, then this article is for you. As artificial intelligence and machine learning matures, we will see a host of new applications across different industries. With wider adoption of AI and machine learning across enterprises, CIOs should also be wary of the AI-based cybersecurity risks.

In this article, you will learn about six ways in which artificial intelligence will impact the cybersecurity industry in 2020.

How AI Will Impact Cybersecurity In 2020?

Here are six ways in which artificial intelligence will transform cybersecurity in 2020.

1. Training Data Will Be the Prime Target

With more and more businesses relying on AI for decision making and automating day to day operations, training data will become a prime target. Cyber attackers will set their sights on training data which is used to train AI in business applications instead of data that is stored on your best dedicated servers and databases. This way, they can manipulate and disrupt decision making and business operations.

Hackers will try to change the data used to train the machine learning algorithm and hamper the learning process. The worst part, it is hard to detect such incidents and your algorithm seems to be working fine, but it will have dire consequences for your business.

2. BEC Attacks with DeepFake Audio

Business Email Compromise is already costing businesses billions of dollars every year. Combine that with a deep fake audio and it becomes even more dangerous. We have already witnessed a case where cybercriminals have successfully mimic the voice of the CEO by using AI and manage to steal millions of dollars.

We will see that trend continue in 2020 and beyond as more cybercriminals use this tactic to steal money. They present themselves as a CEO or a top-level executive and ask for money transfer. The best way to cope up with this treatment is to educate and train your employees so they can spot potential phishing emails and identify these fake voice calls. Launch mock phishing and voice-based attacks to test the knowledge of employees.

3. AI-Powered Malware

Cybersecurity experts are still struggling to get their heads around AI-enabled malware and don’t have a technique to protect against this advanced malware type. Hackers know this and will use AI to their advantage. They will use it in many different ways so that even if security expert finds a way to block one type of malware, they can still penetrate the systems though another type of malware. We will see AI-based malware targeting sandboxes. Such malware are smart and can change course by analyzing the surrounding environment, making them more lethal.

4. AI Will Replace Biometric Authentication

After the Samsung Galaxy S10 fingerprint saga and some other incidents, a biometric authentication is no longer a safe option. Financial services will consider using AI to analyze and authenticate users instead of biometric authentication. Cyber attackers will also use AI to create deep fakes to fool these authentication systems. Once they succeed, they can easily break into the system and get access to your data. The wider adoption of biometric authentication technology will encourage hackers to use deep fakes as a weapon to coordinate fraudulent activities.

5. Use of AI for Protecting Sensitive Data

With data privacy regulations such as GDPR, a growing volume of big data and AI-based threats looming on the horizon, cybersecurity experts will get some sleepless nights. Cybersecurity professionals will have to develop new ways to secure analytics data that powers all AI applications.

Rajarshi Gupti, Head of AI at Avast predicted, “In the coming year, we will see practical applications of AI algorithms, including differential privacy, a system in which a description of patterns in a dataset is shared while withholding information about individuals.” Differential privacy will help companies boost their revenues by leveraging big data insights that too without exposing private data.

6. Business Ethics in AI Age

Security leaders responsible for maintaining the integrity and availability of AI-based systems should know AI ethics and its consequences. Otherwise, they will learn some lessons the hard way. At least, that is what the cybersecurity experts think.

Todd Inskeep, RSA Conference Advisory Board Member shared his concern. He said, “We are going to get a lot of new lessons from the usage of AI in cybersecurity. The recent story about Apple Card offering different credit limits for men and women has pointed out that we don’t readily understand how these algorithms work.” According to him, “We are going to find some hard lessons in situations where an AI appeared to be doing one thing and we eventually figured out the AI was doing something else, or possibly nothing at all.”

How will artificial intelligence influence cybersecurity in 2020? Share your opinion with us in the comments section below.

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