Cybercriminals are even using artificial intelligence. How to defend yourself against this?

– New threats include, above all, the brutalization and increasing scale of ransomware attacks, extortion, ransoms, the increasingly brutal and effective activities of criminal groups and their professionalization. The most dynamic risk, growing very quickly in importance and scale, is artificial intelligence, which, on the one hand, appears on the market in the area of ​​supporting devices and products, cybersecurity solutions, but, unfortunately, also appears on the side of criminal activity. Cybercriminals use and develop their own artificial intelligence engines – says Krzysztof Dyki, president of the management board of ComCERT from the Asseco Group.

Cybersecurity is an increasingly recognized problem in public debate, mainly due to the growing scale of the problem. Data from ComCERT from the Asseco Group show that in the last year the number of attacks increased by an average of one quarter. Even though the tools in the hands of cybercriminals and the protection against them are becoming more and more sophisticated, the weakest link is still humans.

– Awareness comes first. No technology will provide as much as a conscious, responsible and safe user who is aware of the risks. Cybersecurity is awareness and the ability to manage threats, not the absence of threats. In second place are technologies and tools. If we are talking about an individual, it is about antivirus software, renewed and updated, if we are talking about a company, it is about the appropriate design and construction of a cybersecurity system – points out Krzysztof Dyki.

One of the main trends in the area of ​​cybercrime is the professionalization of criminal groups. As experts note, they are beginning to operate at a level of advancement appropriate for special services. This may be evidenced by the fact that, in order to make unmasking more difficult, criminals create proprietary communication systems. Consolidation is also noticed, consisting in the absorption of smaller ones into the structures of larger ones. It is therefore not surprising that critical infrastructure is increasingly becoming the target of attacks. Organizations in the public sector, healthcare, finance, and technology companies were common targets of cybercriminals.

– These are, first of all, data – their quantity and nature. This may be medical, military, technological or financial data that is of interest to cybercriminals. Local governments are also attractive to cybercriminals, not only in terms of processed data, but unfortunately also in terms of ransoms. Local governments fall victim to criminals who blackmail them with the possibility of making information or documents public. Criminals usually target large local governments, but not only them – notes the expert.