The three threats to digital transformation are listed below.

The attack surface created by digital transformation is growing at an exponential rate, opening up new opportunities for cybercriminals. New technologies such as automated hacking, deepfakes, and weaponized AI are being added to their arsenal, in addition to their ever-expanding arsenal of malicious software and zero-day threats.

Let's take a look at how these instruments are posing a threat to the globe today.

AUTOMATED HACKING

What are the real-world applications of automated hacking, and how might they affect your company? Hackers utilise applications like Shodan to generate a complete list of web servers, surveillance cameras, webcams, and printers that are linked to the internet.

Automated hacking methods were used in Sweden, for example, to locate public cameras near a harbour. They may use that images to monitor and detect submarines entering and exiting the port. They were able to determine how long the ships had been on the move, their range, and their destinations. This does not require a team of IT specialists to finish and can be done by anyone.

Even if your company doesn't rent submarines, security cameras and networked printers are likely to be installed at the front door. These devices can be recognised and accessed from afar. It doesn't matter who comes into your office or meets with you; the data belongs to you.

As previously indicated, cyber-attacks are increasingly targeting specific individuals. Spear phishing is the term for this type of attack. Cybercriminals are increasingly seeking to persuade their victims to donate money rather than simply hoping that naive recipients will click on the phishing email. Fake accounts, email accounts, websites, branding, and communication styles are established to imitate a third party or a company executive. When a high-ranking CxO is targeted, it's known as "whaling."

Reconnaissance is the first step in developing a convincing message for cybercriminals. What kind of clientele does the target company have, how many employees does it employ, do they use a specific email template, and what are its flaws? Instead of manually searching through publicly available data, they use automated resources. As a result, their approach is more thorough and faster, with higher success rates.

DEEPFAKE

Deepfake is a phrase made up of the terms "deep" and "fake." It combines the concepts of machine learning and deep learning with the concept of a non-existent entity. Deep fakes are computer-generated images and noises made using machine-learning algorithms. Using deep fake technology, a deepfake maker manipulates material to replace a genuine person's picture, voice, or both with similar artificial likenesses or sounds. Deepfake technology is a more advanced sort of photo-editing technology that allows for easy manipulation of pictures.

In terms of how it manipulates visual and audio content, Deepfake technology, on the other hand, goes considerably further. It has the ability to create individuals who do not exist. It can also make it appear as if real people are speaking and acting in ways they aren't. As a result, deepfake technology might be used to spread fake news.

CORPORATE SCAM

Organizations are concerned about a variety of deepfake-based scams, such as those that use deepfake audio to make it appear as though the person on the other end of the line is a higher-up, such as a CEO demanding money from an employee. Extortion scams are a type of scam. Identity fraud is a sort of identity theft in which criminals employ deep fake technologies to commit crimes like financial fraud. In many of these scams, an audio deepfake is used. Audio deepfakes create "voice skins" or "clones" that allow them to impersonate a famous person. If you suspect the voice on the other end of the line is a partner or customer seeking money, it's a good idea to do your homework.

Manipulation of social media

Persuasive manipulations in social media posts have the potential to mislead and enrage internet-connected people. Deepfakes is a service that makes fake news appear legitimate in the eyes of the media.

Deepfakes are widely used to generate strong emotions on social networking sites. Consider a chaotic Twitter account that takes aim at all things political and makes ludicrous claims in the hopes of causing a disturbance. Is there any connection between the profile and a real person? Possibly not. The profile image for the Twitter account may have been created entirely from scratch. It's possible that it does not belong to a real person. If that's the case, the convincing films they're disseminating on Twitter are very certainly phoney. This type of deepfake has been outlawed on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

WEAPONISED AI

Because of AI and automation, bad actors may be able to carry out more attacks at a faster pace, requiring security staff to stay alert. To add fuel to the fire, because everything is happening in real time and we're seeing rapid advancement, there's not much time to decide whether or not to launch your own AI defences.

Cyber attackers, like their victims, confront financial realities: finding and exploiting zero-day threats can cost upwards of six figures; generating new threats and malware takes time and money, and renting Malware as a Service tools from the dark web takes time and money. They, like everyone else, want to get the most bang for their buck, which means enhancing the efficiency and efficacy of the instruments they use while spending the least amount of money, time, and effort possible.

Cybercriminals could use AI and machine learning to create malware that can self-seek for flaws and calculate which modules will be the most effective without identifying themselves to their C2 server through constant communication.

Advanced persistent threats (APTs) or a variety of payloads have previously been used in multi-vector attacks. By comprehending targeted systems on its own, AI improves the efficacy of these technologies, allowing attacks to be laser targeted rather than the slower, scattershot strategy that might inform a victim that they are being attacked.

Conclusion

You must know what you must protect and how you must protect it. How big is your attack surface on the internet? What weaknesses are exposed? Automated solutions that identify and evaluate your digital footprint, not just your own websites and digital products, but also those of third-party suppliers, can help you prevent attacks. All are linked to your brand and have the ability to severely harm your reputation if they are hacked by cyber-criminals.

Reference- Analytics Insights