Phishing and malware, of course, facilitate multifaceted ransomware attacks that have caused havoc with healthcare organizations, supply chains, and other targets. Global ransomware attacks are predicted to cost more than $265 billion annually by 2031, thanks in part to the power of AI in these attacks.

The growing quality of deepfakes, including real-time deepfakes during live video calls, invites scammers, criminals, and even state-sponsored attackers to convincingly bypass security measures and steal identities for all kinds of nefarious purposes. AI-enabled voice cloning has already proved to be a massive boon for phone-related identity theft. AI enables malicious actors to bypass face recognition. protection And AI-powered bots are being deployed to intercept and use one-time passwords in real time.

More broadly, AI can accelerate and automate just about any cyberattack. Automated vulnerability exploitation, which allows malicious actors to identify and exploit weaknesses fast, is a huge advantage for attackers. AI also boosts detection evasion, enabling attackers to maintain a persistent presence within compromised systems while minimizing their digital footprint -- magnifying the potential damage from the initial breach.

Once large amounts of data are exfiltrated, AI is useful for extracting intelligence on that data's value, enabling fast, thorough exploitation of the breach.