Biden's cyber director fears we're already seeing 'autonomous attacks' by AI — it's now behind 84% of ransomware cases

The study, from cybersecurity firm Semperis, found that AI is now utilized in a whopping 84% of ransomware attacks, which involve installing software programs on victims’ devices and then demanding payment to access the crucial, often private information therein (hence the “ransom” in the name). And as algorithms advance, perpetrators are getting more practiced and confident in using them, especially in cases where they wouldn’t be able to do the technical work themselves.

How do ransomware attackers get in?

There are various tactics for a scammer to gain access to your computer, phone or other device, including by directing you to click on fraudulent links, through phishing emails that dupe you into revealing passwords or other sensitive information, or by simply finding vulnerabilities in your operating systems and programs — including your own AI tools.

In some cases, a human doesn’t even have to be the one directly carrying out the crime, as AI is now able to infiltrate systems, lock them down and issue threats autonomously upon instruction, says Semperis’s strategic advisor, Chris Inglis, who formerly served as the U.S. National Cyber Director under Biden.

“I think we’re already seeing autonomous attacks. Autonomous ransomware attacks are included in the mix,” Inglis told CBS News when speaking about the report’s findings. “AI is an inflection point in their capacities to hold the same things at risk… [it] increases the capacity, scope and scale of attacks in understanding the weaknesses in your system or increasing the sophistication of their approach.”

Nowadays, once someone is targeted, they are also more likely to be a repeat victim; Semperis notes that 69% of survey respondents said they’d experienced such an attack more than once in the last year.

Even more concerning is the rise in physical violence associated with these schemes, with ransomware gangs resorting to threats of physical or psychological violence in a staggering 40% of cases, and actually enacting harm in more than half of those where it was threatened.