Security News > 2023 > April > US cyber chiefs warn AI will help crooks, China develop nastier cyberattacks faster

Bots like ChatGPT may not be able to pull off the next big Microsoft server worm or Colonial Pipeline ransomware super-infection but they may help criminal gangs and nation-state hackers develop some attacks against IT, according to Rob Joyce, director of the NSA's Cybersecurity Directorate.

Joyce, speaking at CrowdStrike's Government Summit Tuesday, said he doesn't expect to see - at least not "In the near term" - AI used "For automated attacks that will rip through systems at speeds that are unfathomable today."

AI gives network defenders these same opportunities, Joyce added.

Joyce's keynote echoed earlier comments from Mandiant Labs senior principal Robert Wallace, speaking during a panel discussion on adversaries at the conference.

Joyce said China is "The enduring challenge for us, past, present and future", citing the Hafnium campaign against vulnerable Microsoft Exchange servers in 2021.

"Any exploited box was a good-exploited box because it was a pivot point, it was information, it was an opportunity, and that was just so brazen," Joyce added.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/04/12/us_chatgpt_threat/