Australia warns of ‘unprecedented’ AI threat
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Global worries about the power of advanced AI tools are mounting after a string of hacking incidents involving models from leading developers.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Australia’s cybersecurity agency warns AI is an “unprecedented” threat, as hackers and state-backed actors use it to find weaknesses faster and attack at greater scale.
- The Australian Signals Directorate issued more than 4,400 warnings last year, an 80% rise, and said China, Russia and North Korea-linked hackers targeted Australia and allies.
- Defence Minister Richard Marles said “AI is here and it’s real”, urging people to update computers and “harden their systems” as firms rush to fix major software flaws.
AI generated
SYDNEY – Artificial intelligence poses an “unprecedented” threat as foreign governments turn it loose to hack computer networks and critical infrastructure, Australia’s cybersecurity agency warned on Oct 27.
The Australian Signals Directorate said that rapidly advancing artificial intelligence models could be of huge benefit if harnessed for good, even using some AI tools to compile its own annual “cyberthreat” report.
But recent months had also shown how AI was helping criminals and state-sponsored hackers launch attacks at “greater scale than ever before”, the directorate added in the report.
“AI has been the defining force in the cyberthreat landscape over the past year, allowing malicious actors to find vulnerabilities faster and exploit them at unprecedented scale, speed and sophistication,” the report read.
“In recent weeks, new threats have emerged from the unintended actions of AI agents and model testing.”
Global worries about the power of advanced AI tools are mounting after a string of hacking incidents involving models from leading developers such as OpenAI and Anthropic.
The report documented a stark increase in cybersecurity incidents.
The Australian Signals Directorate issued more than 4,400 warnings about potentially malicious activity over the past year – an 80% increase compared with the prior 12 months.
“State-sponsored cyberactors continued to target Australian organisations primarily to gain access to sensitive or non-public information.
“This activity extends beyond government networks, and includes critical infrastructure entities, private businesses and individuals.”
The report said hackers linked to China, Russia and North Korea had targeted Australia or its allies in recent times.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said the nation could not ignore the AI revolution.
“AI is here and it’s real. People need to engage,” he told reporters.
“There’s no turning the clock back in relation to that. Malicious actors are using AI to find vulnerabilities in systems.”
Marles urged Australians to update their computers and “harden their systems”.
Governments and firms have in recent days been rushing to fix critical flaws in a programming language that runs a large share of the world’s websites.
The vulnerability was found using a powerful model from OpenAI. AFP