Malware is getting easier and easier to create.

It seems as though artificial intelligence is everywhere these days, and it’s literally just getting started. Think Model T era. But that’s changing fast, and with all things technical, there’s good and bad. One of the bad directions AI will take is the ability to write software code by itself, and that includes ransomware and other malicious attacks.

Currently, miscreants can plug into a MAAS (Malware As A Service) offering on the Dark Web, and they’re off to the races. These services offer complete, turn-key ransomware packages for little effort, but you have to be willing to navigate the Dark Web and essentially get in bed with known criminals. AI will change that. A user will only need access to an AI engine, like ChatGPT, and ask it to write a block of code for them. An engineer at the malware detection company MalwareBytes tried doing just that. Here’s their rendition of the process – click here.

The astute among you may be saying – wait a minute, if AI is writing malware, can’t AI also write the code to detect and thwart it? In fact, the answer is yes, and it’s already assisting many programs in heuristics and behavior detection. The fascinating piece to all of this is we will likely have AI chasing and battling AI.

At this time, no one can determine how this will play out. Will quantum computing be the determining factor – whatever country has the most quantum horsepower can out maneuver the attempts to stop it? What we can say with certainty is we are on the verge of a titanic revolution, the likes of which will dwarf those that came before it.

The choice is yours. If you’re not actively investing in the protection of your technology base and your intellectual properties, you have no chance of retaining it. We’re here to help. Give us a call and find out how we can evaluate, recommend, and implement the most cost-effective solutions for your organization.