AI in Cybersecurity: How it’s becoming a weapon and a shield?

 AI in Cybersecurity: How it’s becoming a weapon and a shield?

In today’s digital age, artificial intelligence (AI) has become an integral part of cybersecurity. This technology is being used to secure systems on the one hand, and to break them on the other. This constant tug of war between attackers and security experts has sparked an invisible arms race, where both sides want to outsmart the other.

Both sides are faster and smarter than ever. Both are learning from each other’s moves and are scaling their operations to levels that humans alone cannot.

Using AI for Attacks

Hackers have long used automated techniques. But AI has given them the power to target specific individuals, adapt their attack methods to the situation, and carry out attacks without much human involvement.

1) AI-generated fake emails (phishing)

AI has made fake emails look so real these days that it was unthinkable before. According to one study, 12% of people click on fake emails created by humans, while 54% click on those created by AI. ​AI can instantly create emails that match the language, speech style, or company culture of any person.

Previously, fake emails were identified by grammatical and spelling mistakes, but now, when they are created by AI, such mistakes are difficult to detect. As a result, computer filters cannot stop such emails and people can easily be scammed.

2) Voice Cloning

Vishing has been made even more dangerous by synthetic voice technology. Now, about 80% of phishing attacks use voice cloning.

Hackers can imitate the voice of a company’s CEO or colleague from just a few seconds of audio. This has led to a surge in fraud under the pretext of ‘sending money immediately’ or ‘verifying an account’.

The human ear cannot distinguish between ‘voice cloning’ and fake. This makes it easy for company employees to fall prey to it. Training employees to protect themselves from this is not enough.

3) Polymorphic Malware

Malware created with the help of AI does not remain the same once it enters a computer. AI-powered malware can change its code instantly. This makes it impossible to detect malware signatures.

Thousands of new versions of it can be created in a matter of seconds, rendering old antiviruses useless. It is very difficult to detect it as it behaves differently every time. This means that attackers can use the same main malware method or structure repeatedly and they are not easily caught.

4) Automated vulnerability scanning

Previously, hackers had to manually scan a system for hours or days to find vulnerabilities. Now AI can do this in minutes. AI tools can scan entire networks and find vulnerabilities in minutes. It compares stolen data and information from the dark web (the hidden part of the internet) to create a profile of the target, including their technology, security vulnerabilities, and social media activity. Ultimately, the hacker gets a customized attack plan for each target.

5) Autonomous malware

This is the next stage of the attack where malware runs and makes decisions on its own. These programs do not wait for human commands. They assess their environment and choose an attack strategy. If one attack fails, they can adopt another method. Some malware is designed to attack other AI systems, such as intrusion detection platforms. This allows the attack to continue for a long time without the direct supervision of the hacker.

Using AI for Security

On the other hand, security experts are also using this same AI technology as their defense shield. They analyze huge data through AI to quickly identify even subtle threats that ordinary people cannot detect. As soon as a threat is detected, the AI ​​system automatically takes countermeasures and is also helping to predict potential threats by studying old patterns before an attack occurs.

1) Instant detection of unusual activity

AI can immediately detect any unusual activity by monitoring large amounts of data.

If a sudden large amount of data is found to be leaking from the server, the team moves forward to investigate.

If a login is found from an unusual location, it is flagged for review.

If there is a suspicious change in the access control of an employee, it can be automatically blocked.

Since unusual activities are detected immediately, the time between an attack and its prevention is greatly reduced, which helps prevent damage.

2) Predicting potential threats

Instead of waiting for an attack, the security team can address the vulnerability in advance.

The AI ​​model analyzes the configuration of the system and predicts where attacks are likely to occur.

It predicts which assets are most at risk by looking at past attack patterns.

This shifts security from reactive to proactive.

3) Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

The XDR platform

It brings together all the data in one place.

AI identifies attacks spread across different systems such as; endpoint logs, network telemetry and cloud activity in one place.

This helps the security team to trace the entire path of the attack, from phishing emails to the database.

This level of clear information is difficult to obtain using separate and disconnected tools. That is why the role of AI is important here.

4) Automated Security Center (Automated SOC)

Small businesses often cannot afford to have their own large security operations center. Because it is very expensive.

AI-based platforms automate tasks such as alert management, incident classification and common problem resolution.

Using such tools, managed service providers can provide high-level security similar to that of large companies at a lower cost.

Automation allows for immediate response, freeing up human analysts to focus their time on more important tasks.

This will help reduce the security gap between large enterprises and small organizations.

5) Adaptive Defense

As attackers’ techniques evolve, so too do the AI ​​systems that defend them.

As new threats emerge, their detection rules evolve.

The AI ​​model is retrained on new attack data.

This keeps security tools always ready or updated against rapidly changing threats.

6) Never-ending cycle

As hackers devise new strategies, the security system responds. And with each new strategy, the hacker finds new ways to circumvent the security system.

Hacker: AI improves the fake email → Security: System starts understanding the language and intent of the email.

Security: System starts detecting malware → Hacker: Launches a fileless attack.

Hacker: AI starts looking for vulnerabilities → Security: System starts fixing the vulnerabilities itself.

This cycle is happening so fast that the time it takes for a vulnerability to be discovered and exploited has shrunk to a matter of hours.

What should your organization do?

You don’t have control over what technology hackers use. But you do have control over how prepared you are to deal with it. If your security system relies on outdated rules and human checks, you’re already behind the curve.

Test your readiness:

Can your system stop an AI-generated fake email sent in your company’s style?

Will you know within minutes if a hacker scans your network?

Can your security team immediately investigate every critical alert?

If the answer to these questions is ‘no’, your system is vulnerable to attack by AI-powered hackers.

What’s next?

The gap between human speed and machine speed is widening. The future will see:

Automated hacker agents that attack without human control.

Defensive AI agents that respond without human consent.

A battle of AI against AI, where both sides will try to outsmart each other quickly.

This arms race is not going to stop. Whoever can change themselves the fastest will win this race.

The ultimate question is not whether hackers will use AI against you. They already are. The real question is - when an attack occurs, is your security system ready to deal with it?