Organized crime uses AI for its illicit activities and to recruit

Natal da Silva, CEO of Stefanini Cyber, mentions that before this boom in generative AI, it took around four or five days to program a malicious file. “Now, in four hours they can make new malware. They are much more productive,” he mentions in reference to hackers.

Likewise, he mentions that cybercriminals are taking another approach in their offensives, attacking the AI ​​that is responsible for defending organizations and anticipates that this sector, like the technology itself, will have a dizzying evolution.

According to forecasts from the United Kingdom’s National Cybersecurity Centre, malicious uses of AI will aggravate the impact of threats and will also increase the volume and impact of cyberattacks over the next two years.

Organized crime accesses generative AI

Da Silva points out that organized crime groups are accessing AI to optimize their work and Parikh complements that some of the most attacked institutions are banks, even though they are the first to generate alternatives against their attacks.

The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) has detected several uses of AI related to criminal activities, such as the recruitment of minors through more sophisticated campaigns.

This is called social engineering and although it is a well-known dynamic in the world of cybersecurity, with AI it has become increasingly realistic and credible for victims, due to the amount of data that cybercriminals have. to build your messages.

Likewise, traffic applications or maps that implement AI have been used for constant updating, with the aim of improving drug, weapons and even people trafficking routes.

Despite the context in which crime uses AI, specialists mention that the technology is also being used to protect systems from vulnerabilities and has even generated greater optimization of defenses.

Da Silva highlights that AI represented a significant change, going from an average of between 18 and 24 malware detection alarms in 8 hours, to reaching up to 18,800 alerts in the same period, thanks to its data processing capacity.