Will artificial intelligence and big data help hackers obtain information more effectively and affect people's daily lives? In fact, this has already happened.
With the development of various technologies, the possibility of hackers bringing huge destructive blows to people is developing along this curve. Hackers may be individuals, independent hacking groups, state-level hacking groups, or even cyber terrorists. That said, the threats people face are real.
There are many movies showing examples of hackers using big data to carry out attacks and the impact of such attacks. For example, shutting off all power to a city, attacking municipal facilities, police stations, or military bases. Hackers may be able to take control of important systems and do whatever they want for a limited period of time.
Artificial intelligence makes complex hacking attacks easier
However, security experts mentioned that this large-scale and effective hacking attack was not caused by Caused by some simple adjustments in the system or minor breaches in security defenses. Although hackers can deploy artificial intelligence and gradually infiltrate the system, slowly transitioning to a state of complete control. This strategy is to create naturally occurring small changes in order to avoid detection.
When it comes to big data, hackers may corrupt or alter large data sets through relatively minor tweaks in order to benefit from them. This may be harmless to the public to some extent, but hackers can exploit a company's annual financial business reports for personal gain. This change in financial reporting models also affects the decisions of CEOs, traders, bankers, and other decision makers in these financial reports.
Data Integrity Attacks
A variant of these big data hacking attacks are data integrity attacks. The largest data breach ever discovered was reported not too long ago. Yahoo confirmed two major breaches in its database in September and December 2016, but the breaches occurred earlier than reported. Yahoo confirmed that the two data breaches occurred in August 2013 and late 2014. All 3 billion of their users were affected by the attack.
There were similar data breach reports on TalkTalk, where 550 million user records were said to have been stolen. Another shocking fact suggests that this could have been the work of a 16-year-old, showing that age doesn't matter when it comes to attacks involving large databases.
In the future, hackers may attack computer systems that control important technical equipment, which can control important facilities such as reservoir water levels, gas pressure, and railway transportation networks. By taking control of these systems, hackers can alter the operating environment or create artificial chaos. This can have devastating effects.
According to expert research, it is absolutely possible for this to happen. While reports of such an incident have not yet been published, it may have occurred.
International Events and Machine Learning
Imagine that hackers penetrate the network systems of other countries through the Internet. If they obtain sensitive materials from a certain country’s nuclear facilities and are able to launch a nuclear warhead, the consequences will be What would be, this would trigger an international incident, and such a catastrophic event could have a direct impact on peace and security around the world.
Many security companies build security solutions based on machine learning algorithms. However, hackers are using the same techniques to carry out their attacks. For example, a hacker could use phishing emails to target important people and deploy a machine learning project to create highly relevant personal emails, which would have worse outcomes.
In addition, most anti-virus scanners use a detection system that detects known types of viruses, malware, Trojans, etc. When there is a match, the virus scanner prompts the user. However, increasingly sophisticated malware can be created through machine learning and may modify the code of the malicious code in such a way that it can bypass detection by any virus scanner.
So what measures should be taken for protection?
First of all, no matter what security measures an individual takes, they will encounter the consequences of violations. However, there are steps organizations can take to minimize the risk.
1. Set a unique password
Never use the same password. Password security is a real issue. It's best to use long and complex passwords. If you set a secure password, just download a password generator and keep it in a safe place in case you forget it. Still, it's a good idea to write down your username and password on a piece of paper.
2. Change Password
For example, Yahoo’s database was leaked in 2013 and 2014, but they delayed releasing it to the public until 2016. And changing your passwords regularly is a good habit because people don't always realize that their information has been compromised.
3. Two-Factor Authentication
Two-factor authentication is based on a real-time authentication method that requires the individual to allow login. It can be a text message an individual receives on their phone with a unique code, or it can be an app like Google Authenticator, which updates a unique code every 10-20 seconds.