‘Bad actor’ states weaponise AI to attack British assets

CYBER terrorists are weaponising artificial intelligence to create a range of new computer viruses capable of disrupting entire networks within seconds, The Telegraph has learnt.

The only protection against a new generation of cyber attacks being launched by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea will be a form of collective defence, where anonymised data is shared between western governments and private companies, the head of a cyber security company has warned.

Linda Zecher, head of IronNet, said hackers recruited by states hostile to the West were launching sophisticated attacks every day with the intention of stealing and disrupting networks.

The Ukrainian government is one of the prime targets of Russian hackers while the Gulf State of Bahrain is targeted every day by Iranian cyber gangs.

British companies were attacked every 39 seconds last year with most coming from Russian and Chinese hackers, in an offensive which cost the economy an estimated £27billion last year.

Ms Zecher said that just as security companies were using AI to help protect their clients, state sponsored cyber terrorists were using the new technology to attack them. She added that the best protection against the attacks was a form of collective defence where organisations share information on the type of attack and what the hackers are attempting to steal or disrupt.

IronNet has contracts with British companies and the US navy and is due to begin working with the Ukrainian government to help protect the country against relentless Kremlin-orchestrated cyberattacks.

The company has developed a novel approach to security by anonymously sharing data between its companies when they are attacked. The information is then quickly shared across all of IronNet’s clients who can prepare for the incoming threat.

In an interview with The Telegraph and the website National Security News, Ms Zecher, said: “Cyberattacks can shut down whole infrastructures. Bad actors, such as Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, can now get into networks.

“It is no longer the case that bad actors are going into individual computers and stealing someone’s data.

“These days, your simple computer is connected to your office and your home electronics so a small-scale attack can shut down your computer and your home. On a larger scale, a sophisticated attack can disrupt an entire organisation.”