10 ways hackers will use machine learning to launch attacks

If an enterprise notices that it’s under attack and shuts off internet access to affected systems, then malware might not be able to connect back to its command-and-control servers for instructions. “Attackers might want to come up with an intelligent model that will stay even if they can’t directly control it, for longer persistence,” says Kantarcioglu.

Now, these kinds of autonomous agents are available to anyone, thanks to commercial offerings from Microsoft, and several open-source platforms that don’t have any guardrails to keep them from being used maliciously. “In the past, the adversary would have needed human touchpoints to carry out an attack, since most attacks involve multiple steps,” says CMU’s Scanlon. “If they can deploy agents to carry out those steps, that’s definitely a looming threat — well, more than looming. It’s one of the things that AI is making real.”