How AI is Redefining Exploitation in Cyber Attacks: Deepfake Deceptions

The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) in recent times has resulted in some ground-breaking applications as well as significant threats to the security landscape. Foremost among these threats is the rise of deepfake technology. Of these threats to our cybersecurity, one particular cyber threat using deepfake technology has been successful in creating a high volume of deceptive threads so convincing that they tap directly into the vulnerabilities of human beings. In this article, we look at how AI is reimagining this step in cyber attacks and the deepfake technology which develops as a threat and concludes that it will be increasingly important for organizations to learn about these new threats.

Understanding the Cyber Kill Chain: A Framework for Cyber Attacks

The Lockheed Martin developed Cyber Kill Chain is a framework that breaks down the stages of a cyber attack into seven distinct phases: Reconnaissance, Weaponization, Delivery, Exploitation, Installation, Command and Control, and Actions on Objectives. Each of these phases recognizes an important point in an attacker's strategy to compromise a target.

In the case of deepfake cyber attacks, the exploitation phase is the most important of all. AI's potentials come into their best use in this regard. The deepfake technology devised by attackers uses manipulations that are convincingly very difficult to find; they bypass traditional security defenses by exploiting human psychological vulnerabilities. At this phase of sophistication, deepfakes underline the requirement for advanced detection techniques and a corresponding heightening of awareness among security professionals if they hope to mitigate these....

Author

Gaurav Puri, Harsh Daiya