Artificial intelligence plays a major role in cyberattacks and is, at once, a double-edged sword and a major problem. NATO officials said this, according to Euronews.
“AI enables automatic scanning of networks and repelling attacks, rather than doing it manually. However, it also works in the opposite direction,” said the NATO Assistant Secretary-General for new security challenges, David van Vil.
According to him, AI can be used to breach networks using credentials and algorithms. Van Vil added that brute-force attempts are a “major problem,” but the allies aim to “use AI ethically.”
The assistant secretary-general believes the alliance will use the technology for defence. However, he is not sure that the adversary will be such an “ethical user of AI.”
“That is what we must factor into our defence. That is certainly what we are observing,” added Vil.
Earlier this year, NATO conducted exercises to repel the adversary’s cyberattacks. One of the exercise’s biggest challenges was countering the AI threat.
“AI is a two-way street. It involves recognising how the technology is used by the adversary and examining how it can support our own operations,” said Bernd Hansen, head of the Cyber Space Department of NATO Transformation Command.
AI-driven attacks can be directed not only at infrastructure but also to analyse data, said Alberto Domingo, the Chief Technology Officer for Cyberspace at the NATO Transformation Command.
“I think AI poses a serious threat. The number of attacks is growing at a geometric progression,” he said.
According to Domingo, the world simply “lives with it” and needs more cybersecurity rules.
“This shows that we still have no unified, common approach to responding to these things that are simply unacceptable,” he said.
Domingo believes that in the era of a free internet, stopping these processes is impossible.
“The price we must pay is to be realistic and to acknowledge the possibility of future attacks,” he said.
In October 2022, NATO tested autonomous killer robots.
In October 2021, the alliance adopted its first AI strategy and established a €1 billion fund.
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