In recent months we have witnessed a “boom” in the emergence of new and impressive artificial intelligence, such as ChatGPT.
Suddenly, these tools are changing and improving the lives of many people in different areas, especially in activities involving technology.
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Experts say AI is a force for good
In the AI development landscape, China advances while the US…
However, it turns out these ultra-sophisticated systems can also be used for evil, so to speak.
In an interview with The New York Post, Harvard cybersecurity expert J.S Nelson Law School, was categorical in stating that there are criminals taking advantage of AI to practice crimes.
“It's clear that 'bad actors' now have access to sophisticated tools they didn't have before. It gave them possibilities they didn't have before,” he said.
Lisa Palmer, who is chief AI strategist at consulting firm AI Leaders, also spoke to the newspaper and warned that this problem can be seen worldwide.
“It is happening on a global scale. This is not something that is just happening in the United States. It is a problem in several countries,” she said.
According to Palmer and Nelson, the trend is that the occurrence of crimes using AI will only increase in the coming years. In the following topics, some of the main crimes of this type are listed and explained. Keep reading!
deepfake
One of the main crimes committed with the “help” of AI is the so-called deepfake, which basically consists of creating false images using a person's face.
To commit these crimes, criminals use applications equipped with Artificial Intelligence, such as those that promise to turn photos into paintings, or even age users' faces.
Lisa Palmer also commented on this topic and warned of the dangers of deepfake apps. “Some of these apps, in their terms of service, make it very clear that you are sharing your face with the data store,” she warned.
In some serious cases, AIs create sensual or even pornographic images using the faces of ordinary people. The result is so realistic that it can be used to denigrate the individual's image, which is extremely serious.
Artificial intelligence can also capture data such as fingerprints and eye signatures, falsifying authentication and leaving users susceptible to digital crimes.
As far as public debate is concerned, the problem may be even deeper, as generative AIs can create false images of political events, natural disasters and other happenings to falsely alarm the population.
According to experts, this can be used by malicious people as a form of manipulation.
phishing
Phishing, which is sending emails and making unauthorized phone calls, can also be facilitated with the use of Artificial Intelligence.
“Now they [phishing phishers] can create these phishing emails on a massive scale using AIs,” said Lisa Palmer, in a recent talk.
Before the emergence of generative artificial intelligences, phishing and other invasive practices were hampered by the complexity of the work. Now the activity can be facilitated and accelerated by intelligent chatbots such as ChatGPT.
In general, “phishers” remove personal information from profiles on social networks and, from there, start sending unwelcome messages to email addresses.
Lisa Palmer also warns that generative AIs are starting to be used to make automatic phone calls.
“AI is also improving the ability to create fake phone calls. All that is required is for a real person to record three seconds of speech. The robot captures the speech and reproduces it in fake calls”, said the expert.
Recently, criminals have used an AI to forge the kidnapping of a teenager in the USA. The girl's mother received a call in which her daughter's voice was imitated by the robot. Unfortunately, cases like this are becoming more and more common.
Dan Mayo, an FBI agent who is in charge of the Phoenix city superintendence, warns that leaving profiles on social networks open to the public is a risk, as it may provide relevant information to criminals.
“They will look for public profiles that have as much information about you as possible, and when they have that, they will try to harm you,” the officer said.
Recently, it was widely reported by the American press that even Jerome Powell, president of the Federal Reserve, the Central Bank of the United States, was deceived by an intelligence phishing artificial.
Powell allegedly received a call in which an AI impersonated the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. It was later discovered that it was nothing more than a hoax that some idle Russians played on Jerome. Anyway, the alert was turned on.
Malware delivery
Another worrying ability of artificial intelligence is related to the dissemination and improvement of malware, which are basically computer viruses.
Lisa Palmer explains that cybercriminals use these malicious software to steal user information. “Obviously, it would be things like your passwords to banking systems, your passwords to medical records, your passwords on your children's school records, whatever the case, anything that's protected," he said. she.
According to Lisa, artificial intelligence can be used to point out ways in which hackers can follow to gain access even to protected machines such as government computers and large companies.
Even the main targets of these criminals are high-ranking individuals, such as ministers of state, large businessmen, legislators and even presidents.
Ransomware is another threat that is being improved using Artificial Intelligence. “They [ransomware] take control of your system, change your passwords, lock you out of their own systems and demand a ransom,” she explains gravely.
Around the world, government agencies and cybersecurity companies are already aware of the negative uses that AI can have.
Specific legislation and security protocols to control this matter are already being developed in several countries.