AI to transform cybersecurity landscape in 2024

AI-powered cyber attacks will transform the security landscape in 2024, dragging security teams into high stakes games of whack-a-mole, cybersecurity experts are predicting.

Cybersecurity services provider Tesserent has had its 550 cybersecurity practitioners make predictions for the security trends for Australia and New Zealand in the coming year. The increased use of AI in cyber attack campaigns has topped the list.

Predictions include attackers leveraging AI to create highly personalised spear-phishing messages that blend seamlessly with an organisation’s internal communication style, as well as deepfake voices impersonating high-ranking executives. Such sophisticated attacks threaten to bypass traditional security systems, causing significant disruption.

On the flip side, defenders are expected to also increasingly leverage AI to safeguard against cyber threats, with cybersecurity professionals expected to increasingly use advanced algorithms and AI’s self-learning capabilities to detect threats and ease the burden on security operations centre analysts.

Tesserent’s security experts have also predicted that supply chain attacks will remain a major issue in 2024, with attackers increasingly looking to exploit vulnerabilities in an organisation’s supply chain, including third-party software, hardware and services.

Likewise, the skills shortage will continue to pose multiple challenges for Australian and New Zealand organisations throughout 2024, with supply failing to keep up with demand for skilled cybersecurity professionals. Knowledge gaps among non-security employees are also going to pose challenges, Tesserent said.

Other major trends for 2024 will include the volatile and constantly changing regulatory risk in cybersecurity — including compliance risks — as well as SMEs’ growing access to enterprise-grade cybersecurity tools, processes, people and methodologies, Tesserent said.

Image: iStock.com/Orhan Turan