BlackBerry Limited recently released research from a survey revealing that half (51%) of global IT professionals predict that we are less than a year away from a successful cyberattack being credited to the chatbot developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT and 71% of them believe that foreign states may already be using the technology for malicious purposes against other nations.
What were the findings of the research survey?
The survey of 1,500 IT decision makers across North America, UK, and Australia exposed a perception that, although respondents in all countries see ChatGPT as being put to use for ‘good’ purposes, 74% acknowledge its potential threat to cybersecurity and are concerned.
Though there are differing views around the world by IT professionals on how this security threat might manifest, ChatGPT’s ability to help hackers craft more believable and legitimate sounding phishing emails is one of the top concerns around the world (53%), along with enabling less experienced hackers to improve their technical knowledge and develop more detrimental specialized skills (49%) and its risky use for spreading misinformation (49%).
Shishir Singh, Chief Technology Officer, Cybersecurity at BlackBerry explains: “ChatGPT will likely increase its influence in the cyber industry over time. We’ve all seen a lot of hype and scaremongering, but the pulse of the industry remains fairly pragmatic – and for good reason.”
“There are a lot of benefits to be gained from this kind of advanced technology and we’re only beginning to scratch the surface, but we also can’t ignore the various ramifications. As the maturity of the platform and the hackers’ experience of putting it to use progresses, it will get more and more difficult to defend without also using AI in defense to level the playing field.”
What are the IT leaders’ prospects for cybersecurity?
Indeed, BlackBerry’s research survey results also revealed that the majority (82%) of IT decision-makers around the world plan to invest in AI-driven cybersecurity in the next two years and almost half (48%) plan to invest in this before the end of 2023. This reflects the ever growing concern that signature-based protection solutions are no longer effective in providing cyber protection and security against an increasingly sophisticated and clearly complicated threat.
Whilst IT directors are positive that ChatGPT will enhance cybersecurity for businesses, the survey also revealed that 95% believe governments have a responsibility to regulate advanced technologies. However, at present, there is an optimistic consensus that technology and research professionals will gain more than cyber criminals from the capabilities of ChatGPT.
Singh concludes: “It’s been well documented that people with malicious intent are testing the waters but, over the course of this year, we expect to see hackers get a much better handle on how to use ChatGPT successfully for nefarious, fraudulent purposes; whether as a tool to write better mutable malware or as an enabler to bolster their ‘skillset.’ Both cyber pros and hackers will continue to look into how they can utilize it best. Time will tell who’s more effective.”
