Mandiant Says Generative AI Will Empower New Breed Of Information Operations, Social Engineering
ITPro, Thursday, August 17,2023
Attackers can already use AI to easily trick the average user, raising fears over future campaigns
Researchers have warned that generative AI will give small-scale hackers the wherewithal to usher in a new wave of personalized social engineering alongside scattershot disinformation.
Mandiant researchers divided potential attacks into four categories, comprising AI images, video, text, and audio. Each was associated with a distinct emotional response on the part of victims, and separated by technological maturity.
It's feared that text generated by large language models (LLMs) could be used to generate a large volume of finely-tailored 'lure' content rooted in an analysis of a victim's social media presence or contacts.
As attackers launch large and automated phishing attacks, enhanced with personalized information, security teams may struggle to keep up with the evolving threat landscape.