AI-enhanced malicious cyber-attacks ascended to the top of the Gartner emerging risk rankings in the first quarter of 2024, according to Gartner, Inc.

“The prospect of malicious actions enabled by AI-assisted tools is concerning risk leaders worldwide,” said Gamika Takkar, director, research in the Gartner Risk & Audit Practice.

“The relative ease of use and quality of AI-assisted tools, such as voice and image generation, increase the ability to carry out malicious attacks with wide-ranging consequences.”

During the first quarter of this year, Gartner surveyed 345 senior enterprise risk executives to capture and benchmark their top 20 emerging risks and provide leaders a view of their causes and potential consequences.

Risks related to AI captures the top two rankings in the quarter one 2024 survey with AI-enhanced malicious attacks cited as the top emerging risk and AI-assisted misinformation also causing concern.

Escalating political polarisation, which entered the tracker for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2023, dropped from the second most cited concern to third place.

Following this was globally consequential risks, at 61%, and misaligned organisational talent profiles (60%).

Causes of AI-Enabled Attacks and Misinformation 

One of the key drivers of AI-enabled attacks and misinformation is the rapidly expanding access to its capabilities.

AI enhancement can provide malicious code, and facilitate phishing and social engineering, which enables better intrusion increased credibility and more damaging attacks.

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“Its low cost and rapid growth also expose users to the technology who have little awareness on how to recognise when AI-enabled tools are providing valid vs false or misrepresented information,” said Takkar.

Potential Consequences to Mitigate

The potential impacts of AI-enhanced attacks and misinformation are far-reaching and consequential to reputation, productivity and the ability of organisations to respond.

Increased breaches and disclosure requirements can erode trust in an organisations and brand among clients, consumers, and partners.

“The speed and quality of AI-enhanced attacks and misinformation also hinder information security teams’ ability to respond and adapt to the new security landscape, further amplifying its vulnerabilities,” said Takkar.