AI Helps U.S. Intelligence Track Hackers Targeting Critical Infrastructure
According to Cyber Scoop, Artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies are helping the National Security Agency and other U.S. government agencies detect malicious Chinese cyber activity, a top U.S. intelligence official said in remarks on Tuesday that indicate how U.S. security agencies are using the technology to improve computer defenses.
Speaking Tuesday at the International Conference on Cyber Security at Fordham University, Rob Joyce, the director of the NSA Cybersecurity Directorate, said that AI is helping his agency detect Chinese operations targeting U.S. critical infrastructure that might evade traditional defensive measures.
U.S. intelligence officials have warned in recent months that Chinese hacking groups are increasingly targeting power generation systems, ports and other critical infrastructure entities by using methods that analysts refer to as “living off the land” — the use of tools, software and privileges already present on networks to achieve various objectives. Malware that would normally trip detection software or tools is never employed, making it much harder to detect.
