Can artificial intelligence become a foreign agent in the United States?
Artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly attractive target for intruders, and not only individual criminals, but also entire states are showing interest. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation warned about this, especially focusing on the increased activity of foreign forces.
In a statement, FBI officials noted that foreign "agents" are increasingly targeting American companies, universities, and government research institutions that are actively working on AI. Stealing algorithms, data, infrastructure, and even luring specialists away becomes a priority for them.
Public services are particularly concerned about two key risks. The first of them is situations when, during the development of AI, its algorithms are adjusted so that the results are undesirable for society or a particular organization.
The second risk is the direct use of AI for hostile purposes. For example, to automate or enhance malicious operations, such as cyber attacks or disinformation campaigns.
FBI Director Christopher Wray noted that Chinese attackers especially often infringe on the intellectual property of American organizations: "Unfortunately, AI is a technology that is ideally suited for China to benefit from its past and current misdeeds. Creating models requires innovation and a lot of training data." On the Chinese side, there are cases of illegal collection of a large amount of confidential information.
In general, criminals have become more likely to use AI as a power multiplier to create malicious code and convincing phishing campaigns. In addition, AI helps in the development of advanced malware, reverse engineering and creating "synthetic content", such as deepfakes.
Summing up, the FBI representatives stressed: "AI has significantly reduced some technical barriers, allowing even people with limited experience and skills to conduct cyber attacks."
Artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly attractive target for intruders, and not only individual criminals, but also entire states are showing interest. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation warned about this, especially focusing on the increased activity of foreign forces.
In a statement, FBI officials noted that foreign "agents" are increasingly targeting American companies, universities, and government research institutions that are actively working on AI. Stealing algorithms, data, infrastructure, and even luring specialists away becomes a priority for them.
Public services are particularly concerned about two key risks. The first of them is situations when, during the development of AI, its algorithms are adjusted so that the results are undesirable for society or a particular organization.
The second risk is the direct use of AI for hostile purposes. For example, to automate or enhance malicious operations, such as cyber attacks or disinformation campaigns.
FBI Director Christopher Wray noted that Chinese attackers especially often infringe on the intellectual property of American organizations: "Unfortunately, AI is a technology that is ideally suited for China to benefit from its past and current misdeeds. Creating models requires innovation and a lot of training data." On the Chinese side, there are cases of illegal collection of a large amount of confidential information.
In general, criminals have become more likely to use AI as a power multiplier to create malicious code and convincing phishing campaigns. In addition, AI helps in the development of advanced malware, reverse engineering and creating "synthetic content", such as deepfakes.
Summing up, the FBI representatives stressed: "AI has significantly reduced some technical barriers, allowing even people with limited experience and skills to conduct cyber attacks."
