Disinformation, AI and ‘cyber chakravyuh’
- The year 2024 had dawned with forebodings of a new wave of security threats, and security specialists the world over, had braced for a wave of attacks along a wide spectrum.
- Together with the expanding horizons of disinformation and cyber threats, the outlook seemed distinctly gloomy.
AI and risks
- It is indeed true that spreading disinformation has become far easier with the advent of AI.
- Deep fakes, comprising digitally manipulated video, audio, or images, repeatedly hit the headlines today, causing a miasma of disinformation.
- The truth is revealed much later and after the damage has been done.
- Yet, there is not enough comprehension today, about the threat posed by AI generated or other types of deep fakes.
- Together with cyber attacks, the world needs to realise that we face a new and grim reality which cannot be ignored any longer.
- A combination of cyber attacks and AI-enabled disinformation had and is still, causing grave havoc in the conflict in Ukraine.
- The world had a preview last month of what could happen, or is in store, in the event of a massive cyberattack, whether AI-enabled or otherwise.
- A ‘glitch’ in a software update concerning Microsoft Windows caused a massive outage, which initially affected parts of the United States, but rapidly spread to different parts of the globe, including India.
- It disrupted flight operations, air traffic, stock exchanges and more. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) issued a severity rating of ‘critical’ for the incident.
- This was, however, not a cyberattack, but it provided a preview of the kind of disruption that could take place in the event of a cyberattack.
- The world may, or may not, remember the widespread disruption caused by WannaCry ransomware, Shamoon Computer Virus, Petya, Stuxnet that has caused damages amounting to billions.
Growing cyber threats
- The number of victims of cyber fraud and cyber hacking has grown exponentially in recent years.
- Our day-to-day existence is threatened by fraudsters posing as delivery company agents and making delivery attempts, and, in the process, obtaining personal information for malicious use.
- There is today a rising curve of false credit card transactions, obtaining personal information in the process to defraud unwitting individuals.
- One of the most widespread cyber frauds is ‘phishing’, which involves stealing personal information such as customer ID, credit\debit card numbers, and even PIN.
- The list is extensive and extends to ‘spamming’ as well (where someone receives unsolicited commercial messages sent through one of the many electronic messaging systems).
- ‘Identity theft’ is among the most serious dangers that has now become widespread.
Safety Measures
- Across the democratic world, governments are seeking to put in place proper systems to deal with digital threats.
- Industry and private institutions, however, appear to be lagging behind. It is the latter segment that is, perhaps, the most vulnerable to digital attacks.
- Having in place firewalls, anti-virus defences and a good back-up and disaster recovery system are not enough.
- Unauthorised use of Generative AI content has already become the stock-in-trade of digital bullying.
- Awareness about digital bullying and other forms of manipulation is fundamental if we are to prevent situations getting out of hand.