Fwd: Hackers Have Already Started to Weaponize Artificial Intelligence

["DAVID FARBER" <dfarber () me com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: the keyboard of geoff goodfellow <geoff () iconia com>
> Date: September 20, 2017 at 8:12:55 PM EDT
> To: E-mail Pamphleteer Dave Farber's Interesting People list <ip () listbox com>
> Cc: "Peter G. Neumann" <neumann () csl sri com>, Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>, Michael Grant <mgrant 
> () grant org>
> Subject: Hackers Have Already Started to Weaponize Artificial Intelligence
>
> Last year, two data scientists from security firm ZeroFOX conducted an experiment to see who was better at getting 
> Twitter users to click on malicious links, humans or an artificial intelligence. The researchers taught an AI to 
> study the behavior of social network users, and then design and implement its own phishing bait. In tests, the 
> artificial hacker was substantially better than its human competitors, composing and distributing more phishing 
> tweets than humans, and with a substantially better conversion rate. 
>
> The AI, named SNAP_R, sent simulated spear-phishing tweets to over 800 users at a rate of 6.75 tweets per minute, 
> luring 275 victims. By contrast, Forbesstaff writer Thomas Fox-Brewster, who participated in the experiment, was only 
> able to pump out 1.075 tweets a minute, making just 129 attempts and luring in just 49 users.
>
> Thankfully this was just an experiment, but the exercise showed that hackers are already in a position to use AI for 
> their nefarious ends. And in fact, they’re probably already using it, though it’s hard to prove. In July, at Black 
> Hat USA 2017, hundreds of leading cybersecurity experts gathered in Las Vegas to discuss this issue and other looming 
> threats posed by emerging technologies. In a Cylance poll held during the confab, attendees were asked if criminal 
> hackers will use AI for offensive purposes in the coming year, to which 62 percent answered in the affirmative.
>
> The era of artificial intelligence is upon us, yet if this informal Cylance poll is to be believed, a surprising 
> number of infosec professionals are refusing to acknowledge the potential for AI to be weaponized by hackers in the 
> immediate future. It’s a perplexing stance given that many of the cybersecurity experts we spoke to said machine 
> intelligence is already being used by hackers, and that criminals are more sophisticated in their use of this 
> emerging technology than many people realize...SNIP
>
> https://gizmodo.com/hackers-have-already-started-to-weaponize-artificial-in-1797688425
>
>
> -- 
> Geoff.Goodfellow () iconia com
> living as The Truth is True
> http://geoff.livejournal.com  
>
> This message was sent to the list address and trashed, but can be found online.



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