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Singapore
AI FUELLING MORE SOPHISTICATED PHISHING ATTEMPTS, CYBERATTACKS
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Singapore
AI FUELLING MORE SOPHISTICATED PHISHING ATTEMPTS, CYBERATTACKS
Malicious actors are likely to benefit as AI continues to improve and be
adopted, said the Cyber Security Agency.
AI has also allowed malicious actors to scale up their operations. (File photo:
iStock)
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AI fuelling more sophisticated phishing attempts, cyberattacks
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RACHEL LIM
Rachel Lim
30 Jul 2024 06:04AM (Updated: 30 Jul 2024 07:41PM)
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SINGAPORE: The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is a trend to watch, with
malicious actors likely to benefit as the technology continues to improve and be
adopted, said the Cyber Security Agency (CSA) on Tuesday (Jul 30).
AI is used to enhance various aspects of cyberattacks, including social
engineering or reconnaissance, the agency noted.
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“This is likely to increase, driven by the ever-growing stores of data, which
can be used to train AI models for higher quality results.”
The agency's Singapore Cyber Landscape 2023 report published on Tuesday found
that malicious actors are using generative AI for deepfake scams, bypassing
biometric authentication and detecting vulnerabilities in software.
Deepfakes are created using AI techniques to alter or manipulate visual and
audio content.
Malicious actors have used deepfake calls, videos and photos for commercial or
political reasons.
This year, several Members of Parliament received extortion letters with
manipulated images in which their faces were superimposed onto obscene photos of
a man and a woman.
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And just last month, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong warned people about
deepfake videos of him commenting on international relations and foreign
leaders.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRADITIONAL AND GENERATIVE AI?
Traditional AI usually performs specific tasks intelligently, based on a
particular set of data.
While these systems are able to learn and make decisions on fixed inputs, they
cannot create anything new. They analyse and predict outcomes based on existing
data.
Voice assistants such as Siri and recommendation engines on Netflix or streaming
services are examples of traditional AI.
Generative AI, however, creates something new.
With the introduction of generative adversarial networks - or GANs - a type of
machine learning algorithm, generative AI can create new images, videos, and
audio.
ChatGPT, OpenAI's viral chatbot, is an example of generative AI.
According to Forbes, the main difference between traditional and generative AI
lies in their capabilities and application.
"Traditional AI can analyse data and tell you what it sees, but generative AI
can use that same data to create something entirely new."
Collapse Expand
NEW DIMENSION TO CYBER THREATS
AI has also allowed malicious actors to scale up their operations, reported CSA.
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The agency and its partners analysed a sample of phishing emails observed in
2023, with about 13 per cent found to contain AI-generated content.
These emails “were grammatically better and had better sentence structure”, said
CSA.
AI-generated or AI-assisted phishing emails also had “better flow and reasoning,
intended to reduce logic gaps and enhance legitimacy”.
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It added that AI’s ability to adapt to any tone allowed malicious actors to
exploit a wide range of emotions in their victims.
The technology has also been used to scrape social media profiles and websites
for personal identification information that can be used by malicious actors.
This allows them to increase the speed and scale of their attacks.
CSA warned that malicious actors could also become unintended beneficiaries of
legitimate research into how generative AI is used negatively.
These actors could recreate and operationalise research findings, incorporating
them into their cyberattacks, said the agency.
“The use of generative AI has brought a new dimension to cyber threats,” said Mr
David Koh, commissioner of cybersecurity and chief executive of CSA.
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“As AI becomes more accessible and sophisticated, threat actors will also become
better at exploiting it.”
Individuals and organisations need to learn how to detect and respond to
malicious uses of Gen AI, said CSA.
Users can discern if the content they are viewing is a deepfake by assessing its
message, analysing its audio-visual elements and using tools to authenticate its
content, it said.
DECREASE IN PHISHING SCAMS IN 2023
According to CSA’s report, Singapore saw a 52 per cent decline in phishing
attempts in 2023 compared with the year before. The drop bucked a global trend
of sharp increases.
However, the total number of phishing attempts in 2023 was around 30 per cent
higher than in 2021.
CSA warned that phishing attacks continue to be a major threat to organisations
and individuals, especially as threat actors improve on the sophistication of
their cyberattacks.
The agency observed that cybercriminals were making their attempts more
legitimate and authentic.
For example, more than a third of reported phishing attempts in 2023 used the
more credible-looking domain “.com” instead of “.xyz”, an increase of about 20
per cent from 2022.
More than half of the phishing URLs reported also used the more secure "HTTPS
protocol", a significant increase from the 9 per cent that did so in 2022, said
CSA.
The most spoofed industries in 2023 were banking and financial services,
government, and technology.
Sixty-three per cent of the organisations imitated in phishing attempts were
from the banking and financial services sector.
“This industry is often being masqueraded as banking and financial institutions
are trusted organisations which hold significant amounts of sensitive and
valuable information, such as personal details and login credentials,” said
CSA.
RELATED:
COMPANIES ADVISED NOT TO PAY IF HIT BY AKIRA RANSOMWARE
RISE OF DEEPFAKES: HOW TO SPOT SIGNS THAT A VIDEO OR AD HAS BEEN MANIPULATED
AS SINGAPORE FACES DEEPFAKE SURGE, AUTHORITIES WARN OF THREATS FROM CYBERCRIME,
ONLINE SCAMS
The agency’s report also found cybersecurity vendors reported a record number of
ransomware victims globally in 2023.
In Singapore, there were 132 cases, the same as in 2022.
The agency said ransomware groups shifted towards exfiltration-only data
extortion attacks, which are faster and stealthier. This method refers to the
unauthorised transfer of data without any encryption of files or systems.
Ransomware groups also shifted towards applying additional pressure tactics,
such as harassing clients of victim organisations to compel the latter to pay
the ransom, said CSA.
The manufacturing and construction industry remained the hardest hit by
ransomware incidents in 2023.
ALSO READ:
FAQ: HOW TO AVOID BEING SCAMMED AND WHAT TO DO IF YOU BECOME A VICTIM
S$1.8 MILLION LOST TO FAKE BUYER PHISHING SCAMS SINCE START OF 2024
NEW LAW WILL REQUIRE OWNERS OF CRITICAL SERVICES TO REPORT WIDER RANGE OF
CYBERSECURITY INCIDENTS
Source: CNA/rl(zl)
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