The UK government has warned of the risk of cyberattacks using Artificial Intelligence. During a NATO Cyber Defence conference, Britain announced that it is creating a new laboratory to counter such attacks from hostile countries, including Russia.
However, some experts disagree, saying there are many loopholes that hackers can exploit using proven methods. They say warnings of AI-powered attacks may be exaggerated.
The world could face more severe cyberattacks through Artificial Intelligence.
This warning was made by British Minister Pat McFadden, during a speech at the NATO Cyber Defense Conference in London.
The British government has singled out Russia as a possible source of these attacks. London is setting up a laboratory to confront what Minister McFadden called this “new arms race with the help of Artificial Intelligence”.
Ukrainian government websites, in 2022, faced cyberattacks for which security services blamed Russia.
However, some experts are not convinced that the UK will soon face a wave of cyberattacks powered by Artificial Intelligence.
"We need to be careful when we talk about Artificial Intelligence as if it were a major change in the fundamental nature of cyber operations. On the contrary, I think we are still facing the same problems that we had ten years ago. We are still struggling to deal with the same problems," says James Sullivan of the Royal United Services Institute.
The British government says Artificial Intelligence can "amplify existing cyber threats," but also says it presents opportunities to defend against them.
Expert James Sullivan agrees.
"Artificial Intelligence can analyze user behavior and even incident response. I think that's important. It can automate incident response processes, because we'll never be able to protect ourselves from these incidents all the time," he says.
The UK government is asking NATO to adapt to this new threat, as it has done throughout its seven-decade history.
But some experts say the threat of cyberattacks that do not leverage Artificial Intelligence is still "very great."
"I hear all the time about frauds being perpetrated using Artificial Intelligence. Then we realize that frauds aren't done like that at all. Billions of dollars are being illegally obtained without using Artificial Intelligence at all," says Rob Pritchard, a cybersecurity expert.
Expert Pritchard adds that Artificial Intelligence can only replace what humans can do and therefore, has not yet changed the situation around cybersecurity.
"I don't see anything particularly significant. There is currently no possibility that you can give an order and have AI carry out cyberattacks," he says, adding that Britain is currently struggling to deal with cyberattacks that are carried out without the help of AI./VOA
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