Does it mean cybercriminals can steal everything now?
Having your personal data hacked is scary, and AI makes it far, far easier to do so. Let’s take a Deep Dive.
🖧 AI is good at hacking. Weak authentication means it can hack passwords, then try them repeatedly across multiple platforms far more effectively than a human could.
🧠 AI can crunch data quickly to figure out how to hack you, but it can also be used as a tool in ever more sophisticated hacking and scamming schemes.
🤥 Technologies such as deepfakes and social engineering makes scams elaborate and effective.
QUOTABLE
“The real risk of AI isn’t malice but competence. A highly intelligent AI can achieve its goals in ways we never intended.”
— Stuart Russell, computer scientist
BY THE NUMBERS
77% Seventy-seven per cent of businesses say that their AI has been breached by hackers in the past year.
39% When people were asked how receptive they’d have been to a theoretical series of AI-generated personal data hacking attempts, 39 per cent said they’d have fallen for at least one of them.
50% The amount of time it takes AI to exploit data vulnerabilities is expected to drop by 50 per cent in the next two years.
10.2 million A recent breach of an AI-powered call centre platform in the Middle East gave hackers access to 10.2 million customer interactions.
QUIZ
What percentage of hackers say they’re now using generative AI?
A. 37%
B. 57%
C. 77%
Scroll to the bottom for the answer.
DID YOU KNOW?
If you’re feeling technical, it’s time to take a deep breath and school yourself on some of the most common types of hack.
THE EDIT
🤖 Not like us. AI is so effective at hacking not just because it’s better at data processing than humans but also because it thinks completely differently.
🥷🏻 You’re been pwned. Here are some real-life examples of AI-driven data breaches.
😱 No one is safe. As if to demonstrate how tricky this whole business is, the leading AI companies, such as OpenAI and DeepSeek, have themselves faced problems with hacking and data security.
👾👾 Mine’s bigger than yours. The most effective way to fight AI hacking, it turns out, could well be more AI.
WATCH
Part of the problem is that anyone can find a hacker-for-hire on the dark web and pay them to hack you. So, in effect, anyone can hack you.
THE FULL PICTURE
Asia-Pacific leads the world in cyber attacks, with 31 per cent of incidents occurring here.
KEY PLAYER
Liang Wenfeng
None of this would be possible without the people who gave us generative AI in the first place. Until recently, the unrivalled poster child for the technology’s possibilities was Sam Altman, the guy behind OpenAI, and therefore ChatGPT. But these days he’s rivalled by DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng, who’s done the same sort of thing, only much more cheaply.
HONOUREE TO KNOW
Emil Tan
Red Alpha Cybersecurity is building a better mousetrap against cyberthreats by drawing applicants from diverse backgrounds. Chief community officer Emil Tan uncovers hidden potential while building strategic partnerships to create a powerful, adaptable cybersecurity workforce.
ONE FINAL THING
If you think hacking of personal data is bad now, wait till we have powerful enough quantum computers to bypass current encryption tools—which might already have happened. From that point on, you can expect your only real experiences of privacy to be in the bathroom.
