AI and Cybersecurity: Emerging Threats in 2024

Organizations worldwide are building artificial intelligence (AI) into their business models to work more efficiently, and this year AI and machine learning will take over a larger share of workflows. The same technology carries a steady risk of cyberattacks and data breaches. 38% of organizations reported more cyberattacks last year than in 2022.

According to Techwire, hackers are increasingly focusing on AI. Hacked ChatGPT accounts and tutorials on AI-based attacks are in growing demand, which shows attackers now go after AI users directly. Amateur hackers add to the problem, and they target companies and individual social media users alike. About one in ten posts on hacking forums shares attack techniques: doxing, hacking WhatsApp and TikTok accounts, Wi-Fi hacking tutorials. With that much know-how in circulation, expect more attacks carried out by amateurs.

Biometric authentication is gaining traction, but hackers are finding ways to bypass these methods. For example, they can evade selfie verification systems used by cryptocurrency platforms. Enhancing these security measures is critical. Companies like Biometric.vision are developing solutions such as liveness detection—neural networks that verify if a real person is attempting to authenticate. This technology counters attacks involving masks, video recordings, and deep fakes. Additional neural networks analyze head movements and eye openness to prevent manipulations involving sleeping individuals, ensuring stronger biometric security.

Interest in personal data keeps growing. Research shows that data breach forums, where people trade social media accounts, email credentials, and similar data, make up about 55% of forum topics. Multifactor authentication (MFA) is now widely available across platforms and apps, and turning it on cuts the risk of password and data breaches considerably.

To defend against cyberthreats in the AI era, you need both basic and advanced digital security knowledge. Modern technical tools reduce the number of successful attacks, and so do internet users who know which warning signs to look for.