Combating the Rising Tide of AI-Driven Cybercrime

Technology keeps zooming forward, and Artificial Intelligence has been taking on a more deliberate role in many modern aspects of the world. At the same time, cybercrime and those fighting this crime have tried to step up their game. However, cybercrime is increasingly sophisticated, and emerging technologies are increasing daily. Most likely, criminals will be in the unending spiral of hunting easier victims with their malarial intents undone. Easier than in the past, the boundaries between genuine and illegitimate communication are becoming even more vague, providing a better place for cybercriminals to conceal and victimization harder to avert. 

The evolving landscape of cyber threats

Not long ago, detecting a phishing email would be easy. There are a lot of things that have changed over time when comparing the early scam emails and SMSs to the current ones. These include the reduction of spelling and grammatical mistakes, less generic salutations, and more difficult URLs to identify. Nowadays, AI is leaving a mark in cybercrimes, and the social engineering and the invention of deepfakes and fake texts are making cybercommunications hard to detect in a fraud. Technology is overlooking spelling and grammatical errors, & is making communication more personalized by addressing it to the individual. 

The end receiver of communication no longer greets a general ballad. Nowadays, deception criminals, after copying the letterheads and creating the email templates on and off, know on a first name and surname basis. Besides the raging of other social engineering approaches like vishing (voice phishing) and smishing (SMS phishing), incidents are still in the market. Deceivers are producing fake communications and presenting these messages as coming from legitimate sources. The human of a call or a message is not real, and they are using this technology so that victims will not identify the unusual calls or messages coming from these scammers. Although not so long ago, a call from an unknown number worldwide would subconsciously trigger alertness; the temptation to receive the call would have become somewhat unnecessary. 

Nowadays, scammers have, for instance, more thorough information about the phone numbers they call, such as the banking institution, the postal service, or the government agencies. Vishing phone calls are not reduced to just a call requesting a bank account number. Scams are now crafted by impersonating government officials and creating fictional emergencies, which only get people scared, panicking, and acting on impulse. Their ultimate goal is simple: fraud – identity theft or pillaging of bank accounts can be mentioned as an example. Undoubtedly, technology is a crucial player on both sides of the spectrum. The cybercriminals are using tools of that technology as favorable to them in the same manner that those standing to win the war against cybercrime are using technology to their advantage. 

Although the delivery of information is still a menace, organizations today are becoming more secure in their information systems, which have witnessed a rise in sophisticated infrastructural and system infrastructure to sanitize the risk of data breaches and hacks. Laptops and smartphones incorporate firewalls and protection applications within the system. At the same time, network administrators can limit certain functionalities to stop end-users from visiting places or links where they may find malicious data.

Defensive measures: Organizational and individual

Nevertheless, protection from scammers implies technology and other trusted persons and resources. Vigilance is key. To maintain a high security level, organizations should create frequent cyber-security training programs and help everyone to understand that cyber incidents are not minor matters that can be ignored. Strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, biometrics, and other solid protection methods can significantly shift toward lesser data loss, identity theft, and financial damages. 

Another shield measure is online hygiene, when companies or private individuals limit interaction with online social space by removing personal information from websites. Even a brief search of yourself on the Internet could reveal unexpectedly, and without your notice, what kind of your personal information is being exposed to the public. It is imperative to review social media and online accounts regularly, deactivate redundant accounts, and share mindfully through trusted people and separate personal and professional accounts, all of which are good practices for online hygiene as a consumer. Similarly, as consumers, it is prudent to follow the same principles, and like before, vigilance is the key to crippling cybercrime. One should keep in mind some simple and basic tips to avoid being scammed: One should keep in mind some simple and basic tips to avoid being scammed:

From now on, remember the most important first principle with every call or SMS you receive: it is most likely to be a malicious call.

• Do not share your private data elements with unverified third parties.
• If in doubt, the first thing to do is call back the institution from your side that you are 100% sure using a number you have most likely received from the official sources.
• Give no descriptions about passwords, account numbers, or credit card numbers other than that.
• Do not use the sketchy links that are not verified.
• Do not make instant leaps of action, which are often considered ‘urgent.
• Always check sources whenever you are ready to take any action.

It should be remembered that banks never request their clients’ credit on the phone or seek information about the bank cards, such as account numbers, passwords, PINs, and any other individual data. When such messages say, “Change your password,” “Click on this link,” or “Reply to this message with your banking information,” – the user should not trust this type of message and should look for clarity or seek expert guidance. Fraud is a broader term than a single internet scam and can be placed under different categories. 

Cybercrime creates a form of crime, including financial crime and its variants, such as money laundering, terrorist financing, bribery, and corruption. In the next section of this article, we will review fraud from a broader perspective. We will examine how different types of fraud penetrate society and how criminals match these proceeds to legitimate third-party intermediaries.

This article originally appeared in Times of Malt.