Ransomware incidents reach an all-time high in 2023, and 2024 isn’t likely to be much better. As generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) evolves, cybercriminals can execute advanced phishing attacks that are extremely difficult to identify. Most ransomware infections are caused by phishing attacks, so ransomware incidents will inevitably skyrocket as Gen AI boosts the effectiveness of phishing.
Here’s a quick rundown of some of the ways Gen AI can augment phishing attacks:
- Phishing Customization: AI can analyze data on people or companies to create convincing, personalized messages to increase the success rate of phishing attacks.
- Natural Language Generation: Gen AI can mimic human communication, making it hard to tell which emails are legitimate and which are malicious. This makes it difficult for victims to spot phishing attempts.
- Phishing Websites: Gen AI can create phishing sites that look like real sites, including replicas of popular login pages. Victims are directed to these sites through phishing emails, which can result in credential theft.
- Polymorphic Phishing: The content of phishing emails can be changed dynamically with Gen AI to avoid detection by typical security tools. This quality makes it hard to stop phishing attacks with static rules.
- Automated Campaigns: Gen AI enables attackers to launch large-scale phishing campaigns easily by automatically generating and sending high volumes of phishing emails, hitting more targets and increasing success rates.
The sophistication of phishing attacks continues to climb thanks to Gen AI’s customization and automation power. This poses significant challenges for cybersecurity professionals to keep up with attackers.
Next-Generation MFA: The Antidote AI-Enhanced Phishing
The next generation of multi-factor authentication (MFA) can help stop AI-boosted phishing scams and ransomware infections that often result. Next-gen MFA uses adaptive authentication, which assesses contextual factors like user behavior, device information and location to detect potential phishing attempts.
In addition, next-gen MFA uses biometric tools, such as fingerprints, facial recognition or voice recognition, for an extra layer of security. Biometric data is difficult to forge, making it more resistant to AI-generated phishing attacks attempting to impersonate users.
Next-gen MFA also uses behavioral analysis, such as typing patterns, mouse movements or touchscreen gestures, to detect illegitimate users.
And MFA systems can be integrated with threat intelligence feeds to stay informed about emerging phishing threats, which allows organizations to adapt their authentication policies based on the latest information about potential attack vectors.
Organizations can stay ahead of phishing and ransomware attackers by baking next-gen MFA into their cyber defenses. It’s not always an easy process, but robust AI-resistant protections are necessary to avoid ransomware incidents.
MBL Technologies provides comprehensive cybersecurity services for long-term, sustainable solutions that address every facet of the evolving threat landscape in 2024 and beyond. We help you boost your cybersecurity posture and implement next-gen MFA to stop phishing attacks and ransomware infections. Contact us today to get started.
