AI: the double-edged sword revolutionising cybersecurity

Artificial intelligence (AI) is proving to be a double-edged sword in the realm of cybersecurity. On the one end, it is helping cyber professionals get ahead of threat actors, yet on the other, it is supercharging attackers’ ability to create advanced and personalised social engineering attacks, including against firmware.

While AI has largely been hailed for its ability to detect threats and identify vulnerabilities — amid a global shortage of about 4-million cyber professionals — it’s real transformative power will be in how it counters the pace and ingenuity at which attackers use it for their own ill-intended devices.

The latest quarterly HP Wolf Security Threat Insights Report revealed that social engineering attacks, particularly cybercriminals targeting companies with fake overdue invoices, continue to be a large endpoint threat as organisations send and pay invoices through email attachments.

Moreover, attackers are also using redirects and living-off-the-land techniques to sneak past system defences and circumvent detection.

HP, a leader in secure PCs through its Wolf Security technologies, is equally emerging as a leading provider of hybrid work solutions in this increasingly AI-dominated era of work.

Not only has the fast-evolving hybrid work landscape demanded the reflection and introspection regarding our relationship with work, but also it’s demanding a look at how AI can be incorporated into redefining that relationship and redefining PC security within it — and employees themselves are demanding this too.

HP’s 2023 Work Relationship Index reveals that only 27% of knowledge workers have a healthy relationship with work, and 83% believe its time to redefine our relationships with work. Moreover, and importantly, in growing economies, 76% of knowledge workers believe AI can play a key role in improving their relationship with work and make their job “easier” and “more interesting” (75%). 

Earlier this year, HP demonstrated its capabilities in harnessing AI both for a new era of work and for increased security.

By introducing the industry’s largest portfolio of AI PCs — including the new HP Elite PCs, the world’s most advanced business laptops for collaboration, and the Z by HP mobile work stations — HP has solidified its position as a leader in the AI PC space.

As we witness the rise in AI PCs, we’re also witnessing the rise of Large Language Models (LLMs) revolutionising endpoints as studies show their functionalities are increasingly being integrated into the cybersecurity toolbox as defence applications.

LLMs’ capabilities in enhancing cybersecurity defence applications are bolstered by their ability to break down complex natural language patterns enabling professionals to explore sources of attacks and offering prompted vulnerability fixes.

However, as HP experts caution, as devices gather even more sensitive user data through LLMs, endpoints will be a higher risk for attacks. Securing models is therefore critical to protect against attackers accessing confidential data.

To this end, HP has introduced the world’s first business PCs to protect firmware against quantum computer hacks featuring an upgraded Endpoint Security Controller (ESC) chip.

HP's ESC chip represents a new standard in hardware and firmware security. It helps ensure the manageability and protection of sensitive data — adding a critical layer to a hardware platform that reduces the risk of data breaches, while also improving productivity by preventing downtime. 

Building on the company's reputation as the world’s most secure PCs, the HP Elite and ProBook notebooks and Z by HP work stations are equipped with trusted HP Wolf Security for businesses to protect end users no matter where and how they work.

For mission-critical devices, HP has also launched HP Cloud Endpoint Manager SaaS to help IT secure endpoints from threats with automated device monitoring and remediation.

As we navigate the era of AI, both sides of the proverbial sword are being drawn — for better or for worse. Attackers are using legitimate tools, including the oldest tricks in the book, that are just getting harder to detect.

The industry, however, is picking up its pace, and HP is amping up its front-line defences to mitigate and isolate cyber threats so that its customers can focus on what’s most important: getting on with their business seamlessly from anywhere, at any time.

This article was sponsored by HP.