ABA Banking Journal
No Result
View All Result
  • Topics
    • Ag Banking
    • Commercial Lending
    • Community Banking
    • Compliance and Risk
    • Cybersecurity
    • Economy
    • Human Resources
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Mortgage
    • Mutual Funds
    • Payments
    • Policy
    • Retail and Marketing
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Technology
    • Wealth Management
  • Newsbytes
  • Podcasts
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Magazine Archive
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Podcast Archive
    • Sponsored Content Archive
SUBSCRIBE
ABA Banking Journal
  • Topics
    • Ag Banking
    • Commercial Lending
    • Community Banking
    • Compliance and Risk
    • Cybersecurity
    • Economy
    • Human Resources
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Mortgage
    • Mutual Funds
    • Payments
    • Policy
    • Retail and Marketing
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Technology
    • Wealth Management
  • Newsbytes
  • Podcasts
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Magazine Archive
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Podcast Archive
    • Sponsored Content Archive
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
ADVERTISEMENT
Home Cybersecurity

Artificial Intelligence: The Next Frontier of Cyber Warfare?

April 6, 2018
Reading Time: 3 mins read

Hacker - Silhouette Set Against Binary Coded World Map

Artificial intelligence. Machine learning. What once sounded like concepts fresh out of a sci-fi novel are now being integrated into everyday business functions. From assisting with compliance behind the scenes to improving the customer experience on the front end, bankers are finding tremendous value in these technologies.

One area where AI and machine learning can be applied is in the ongoing fight against cybercrime. AI provides a significant advantage over traditional systems, which rely on static rules to identify patterns and flag suspicious activities. AI, on the other hand, is always learning—using intelligent algorithms to detect and identify new attack patterns and incorporating that knowledge to flag cyberattacks more quickly and with much higher accuracy.

While AI is making media headlines almost daily, adoption of AI technology it is still in its nascent stages; a recent study by Accenture and Ponemon noted that in the financial services industry, just over a quarter of firms have deployed AI-based security solutions.

But there’s a defensive case to be made for AI investment, too. A February 2018 report from the Center for a New American Security warned that cybercriminals may soon be leveraging AI and machine learning to increase the scope and efficiency of their attacks. “A natural effect would be to expand the set of actors who can carry out particular attacks, the rate at which they can carry out these attacks, and the set of potential targets,” the report found.

Case study: Phishing  

One of the older (but no less effective) fraud tactics commonly targeting financial institutions is phishing, where criminals typically use email to solicit sensitive information from their victims, such as passwords, social security numbers or financial information. Phishing emails often include a seemingly legitimate URL that directs victims to an external website where the information can be collected. According to the Accenture/Ponemon study, phishing and social engineering scams are the second most costly type of cyberattack facing the financial industry, costing an average of $196,610 per attack.

Phishing has been a tried-and-true fraud tactic for many years using traditional means, but what happens if attackers begin to enhance their methods using AI?

In a recent experiment, a team of researchers at Easy Solutions (which ABA endorses for its anti-phishing and digital threat protection services), attempted to answer that question. Analyzing several million phishing URLs, the team identified several individual threat actors targeting a single institution and analyzed their performance against the bank’s phishing defense systems.

“The average attacker will have a success rate of about 0.3 percent, meaning that our systems are blocking 99.7 percent of their phishing URLs,” says chief data scientist Alejandro Correa Bahnsen. He adds that the team observed higher success rates among some of the more sophisticated attackers—up to 5 percent in one case.

Researchers then assumed the role of hackers, creating an AI URL generator that could create unique phishing URLs. Using this technique, they found that their penetration attempts were significantly more successful; in one case, attack efficiency increased from 0.69 percent to 20.9 percent—a 3,000 percent increase. In another, AI boosted the success rate from 5 percent to 40 percent.

The potential of AI to enhance a cyberattack is boundless, but that doesn’t mean that the fight against fraud is a lost cause. “The conclusion should not be that we are doomed as soon as attackers start using AI,” Correa Bahnsen says. Rather, banks need to ensure that they’re incorporating all of that knowledge into their own phishing detection systems.

While we’re still on the cutting edge of defensive AI technology, Correa Bahnsen notes that it will soon be a must-have for banks. “Right now, if someone doesn’t have AI, in most cases they have some set of rules put together in order to detect any traditional fraud. A very simple [AI-driven attack] is going to be able to bypass those.”

 

ADVERTISEMENT
Tags: Artificial intelligenceCybersecurity
ShareTweetPin

Author

Monica C. Meinert

Monica C. Meinert

Monica C. Meinert is a senior editor at the ABA Banking Journal and VP for executive communications at the American Bankers Association.

Related Posts

Survey finds high customer satisfaction with banking apps

Survey finds high customer satisfaction with banking apps

Newsbytes
June 12, 2025

Overall satisfaction with U.S. national banking apps is 669 on a 1,000-point scale, up 18 points from 2024. At the same time, the gap in satisfaction between best-performing and lowest-performing apps and bank websites shrunk to its lowest...

Fintech startup focused on asset risk builds bank advisory board, gets Citi Ventures funding

Report: Fintech firms show strong fundamentals, growth

Newsbytes
June 10, 2025

According to the report’s analysts, investors are demanding greater maturity, and regulators want more accountability. In addition, fintech firms are adopting next-generation technologies, pushing innovation and forcing other fintech firms and banks to keep up. Of the $378...

Fighting the Rise in Ransomware Attacks: The Value of Breaking Through Silos

Key questions and decisions bankers face in response to ransomware attacks

Cybersecurity
June 10, 2025

ABA has recently convened panel discussions and a simulation to highlight important challenges bankers will likely encounter.

OCC issues statement for banks on recent data breach

Trade groups: Financial agencies’ handling of data needs ‘significant reform’

Compliance and Risk
June 9, 2025

Financial institutions are legally required to share sensitive, proprietary and nonpublic information with their regulators as part of the supervisory process. This information can range from capital and liquidity management to cybersecurity protocols. Centralizing large amounts of data,...

Trades: Data aggregators should be subject to CFPB examination

ABA: Proposed data privacy laws should not conflict with existing bank standards

Compliance and Risk
June 5, 2025

ABA told House lawmakers that it supports applying privacy and data security protection standards to nonbank industries as long as the requirements do not conflict with those already in place for banks.

SEC updates data breach standards for investment companies, advisers

CFPB asks court to vacate Section 1033 data sharing rule

Compliance and Risk
June 2, 2025

The CFPB has asked a federal court to vacate its rule on financial data sharing, citing the rule’s “numerous legal infirmities.”

NEWSBYTES

In 90th anniversary year, Stonier graduates 182

June 12, 2025

ABA, CBA support maintaining confidentiality of CFPB nonbank risk determinations

June 12, 2025

Survey finds high customer satisfaction with banking apps

June 12, 2025

SPONSORED CONTENT

AI Compliance and Regulation: What Financial Institutions Need to Know

Unlocking Deposit Growth: How Financial Institutions Can Activate Data for Precision Cross-Sell

June 1, 2025
Choosing the Right Account Opening Platform: 10 Key Considerations for Long-Term Success

Choosing the Right Account Opening Platform: 10 Key Considerations for Long-Term Success

April 25, 2025
Outsourcing: Getting to Go/No-Go

Outsourcing: Getting to Go/No-Go

April 5, 2025
Six Payments Trends Driving the Future of Transactions

Six Payments Trends Driving the Future of Transactions

March 15, 2025

PODCASTS

Podcast: Old National’s Jim Ryan on the things that really matter

June 12, 2025

Podcast: What bankers need to know about ‘First Amendment audits’

June 5, 2025

Podcast: Accelerating banking for quick-service restaurants

May 8, 2025
ADVERTISEMENT

American Bankers Association
1333 New Hampshire Ave NW
Washington, DC 20036
1-800-BANKERS (800-226-5377)
www.aba.com
About ABA
Privacy Policy
Contact ABA

ABA Banking Journal
About ABA Banking Journal
Media Kit
Advertising
Subscribe

© 2025 American Bankers Association. All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Topics
    • Ag Banking
    • Commercial Lending
    • Community Banking
    • Compliance and Risk
    • Cybersecurity
    • Economy
    • Human Resources
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Mortgage
    • Mutual Funds
    • Payments
    • Policy
    • Retail and Marketing
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Technology
    • Wealth Management
  • Newsbytes
  • Podcasts
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Magazine Archive
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Podcast Archive
    • Sponsored Content Archive

© 2025 American Bankers Association. All rights reserved.