Why Cyber Attackers Benefit More from AI Technology than Defenders

 

AI is transforming both cyber offense and defense, but
the attackers hold distinct advantages.  AI
tools can be used for attacks and defense but the attackers are less concerned
with quality or problems.  They can use risky
or unvetted technology with impunity as they aren’t overly concerned if it
causes harm.  The result is they employ
such tools much earlier than the defenders. 
AI powered social engineering is a good example. 

Defenders face two problems.  First, security tools don’t magically
appear.  They are a response to a problem
and represent an investment by enterprises. 
So, before they are commissioned, there must be a problem to address.  That means the attackers are winning somewhere
first. 

Secondly, defenders don’t have that luxury of being
reckless when it comes to new technology. 
Their risk appetite is much less because a security tool that creates
loss, is just an insider attack conducted by incompetent security.  An improper AI powered social engineering
filter may delete important messages or be vulnerable to being hijacked by hackers.

Cybersecurity must wait for tools to be properly designed,
tested, vulnerabilities closed, and vetted for their operational environment.  Roll-out is often slow for any system that
has strong capabilities to do harm.

So, there is a time lapse between when attackers use
new tools, such as AI advancements, and when defensive tools will appear and be
confident to do no harm. 

This is the attacker’s advantage that compounds the
benefit they hold in maintaining the initiative of when, where, and how attacks
will occur.

As for AI cybersecurity, there is good news.  Despite these challenges, AI-driven defense is
catching up and we will see defensive tools restore some balance by the end of
the year.

Check out my full 2026 Cybersecurity Predictions
(prediction number 8 to be precise) for details.

https://matthewrosenquist.substack.com/p/top-10-cybersecurity-predictions

 

Clip from my keynote delivered to the
Nemertes group. 

More information at http://nemertes.com/ and http://nemertes.substack.com/

 

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