The US Department of the Treasury has warned of the cybersecurity risks posed by AI to the financial sector.
The report, which was written at the direction of Presidential Executive Order 14110 on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, also sets out a series of recommendations for financial institutions on how to mitigate such risks.
AI-Based Cyber Threats to the Financial Sector
Financial services and technology-related companies interviewed in the report acknowledged the threat posed by advanced AI tools such as generative AI, with some believing they will initially give threat actors the “upper hand.”
This is due to such technologies improving the sophistication of attacks like malware and social engineering, as well as reducing barriers to entry for less-skilled attackers.
Other ways cyber threat actors can use AI to target financial systems highlighted were vulnerability discovery and disinformation – including the use of deepfakes to impersonate individuals like CEOs to defraud companies.
The report acknowledged that financial institutions have used AI systems to support operations for a number of years, including in…
