Re-train your Spidey sense for the age of AI

With the rapid advancement of generative AI, fraudulent email has become more difficult to spot than ever before. Gone are the days of poorly formatted messages with broken English and frequent misspellings that were bright red flags. Now, phishing is grammatically correct in any language. Even more sophisticated AI-assisted attacks involve impersonating the voice or the visual appearance of key decision-makers in real time over Zoom. 

As always, the goal of these criminals is to misdirect wire transfers or gain access to sensitive systems. And anyone who finds themselves on the front lines of this battleground needs access to ongoing training to identify and avoid evolving threats.

What’s changed?

The use of generative AI by malicious actors has greatly increased the sophistication, customization, and personalization of each attack. Rather than relying on generic messages, cybercriminals leverage publicly available information with AI to create specific, targeted attacks that may include replicating writing styles, references to recent company events, or seemingly personal details to build trust and urgency. Bots can even be programmed with AI to simulate real-time communication in phishing attacks, which makes interactions seem more human.

What can you do?

You’ve trained your Spidey sense before and you can do it again! But it does take practice and positive reinforcement. Ongoing training will help you and your team recognize and avoid more advanced lures and provide additional critical thinking skills to take a step back, verify, and validate requests before being rushed into a potentially compromising situation.

Cybersecurity Awareness Training includes short, engaging video lessons with quizzes (much like the HR training that most organizations require), plus simulated phishing campaigns that intentionally direct fraudulent (but ultimately harmless) messages across the entire organization.

By learning, for example, about emerging deepfake tactics and general social engineering psychology, you and your staff will gain the skills and preparation to avoid manipulation. 

• Human error is the leading cause of breaches. While often unintentional, this is the primary factor in the majority of security incidents. Training directly addresses mistakes like clicking a malicious link or using non-unique passwords.
• Human intuition is our most important defense — and it can be trained. Building a “human firewall” of well-trained staff equipped with the knowledge and skills to identify and respond to threats will prevent attacks from causing damage.
• Cyberattacks have financial & reputational costs. Cyberattacks create devastating financial losses, including remediation costs, legal fees, and regulatory fines. They also damage customer trust and lead to loss of business. Proactive training is a cost-effective form of insurance to avoid these scenarios.

Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility at organizations of any size. Training builds a proactive security posture that saves time, money, and reputations.