When new technology emerges, cyber-attackers and defenders will both look to use it to their advantage. There’s probably no greater example of this than AI. Cybercriminals are using to enhance their malicious tactics, while organizations explore AI-based solutions that can better protect their data. We’ll take a look at how AI-driven technologies can help safeguard passwords, prevent unauthorized access, and strengthen authentication systems against evolving cyber threats.
Growth of AI in Cybersecurity
According to a recent report by Takepoint Research, 80% of its survey respondents acknowledged that AI’s benefits outweigh the risks vis-a-vis cybersecurity. And with traditional security measures struggling to keep up with sophisticated, AI-enabled cyber-attack methods (e.g., intelligent ransomware and smart phishing), organizations increasingly view AI as a crucial instrument for surviving today’s cyber-attacks.
Reducing Detection and Mitigation Time
AI-powered systems, leveraging machine learning (ML) and deep learning algorithms, can analyze vast amounts of data in real time, identifying anomalies and potential threats before they escalate into data breaches and broader security incidents. This proactive approach allows organizations to automate threat detection, reduce false positives, and improve incident response times; in turn security teams can significantly enhance their firm’s cyber posture and reduce the impact radius of security compromises.
AI-Powered Adaptive Security
As mentioned, AI-enabled cyber-attack methods already incorporate machine intelligence that allows cybercriminals to continuously refine their attack methods, rendering static defense strategies ineffective. Security vendors are therefore now “baking in” AI into their platforms and using ML to develop adaptive security solutions that evolve with emerging threats. Intelligent security tools can learn from past attack patterns and predict future threats, enabling organizations to implement preemptive measures.
How Cybercriminals Are Using AI
Cybercriminals are incorporating AI into their attack strategies across the board, using it to enhance the effectiveness of phishing campaigns, malware development, and other malicious activities. One of the earliest applications of AI in cybercrime has been its role in compromising password security and authentication, making attacks more sophisticated and harder to detect.
Compromising Credentials
Malicious AI is widely used in credential theft and password exploitation activities. AI-powered tools allow attackers to automate brute-force attacks, where millions of password combinations can be tested in a short period using advanced algorithms and ML methods. Unlike traditional brute-force methods that rely on sheer volume, AI-driven attacks use ML models to predict likely passwords based on user behavior, leaked credential patterns, and linguistic analysis.
This makes it easier for attackers to crack passwords, especially weak or commonly used ones, with higher accuracy and speed. AI can also optimize phishing campaigns by generating highly convincing fake login pages, emails, and messages, tricking users into voluntarily disclosing their credentials.
Bypassing MFA and Biometric Authentication
Cyber attackers use AI to bypass multi-factor authentication (MFA) and improve credential-stuffing attacks. For example, AI can analyze stolen username-password pairs and determine which ones are most likely to be reused across different platforms, boosting the success rate of credential stuffing.
Deepfake technologies have decreased in cost dramatically over the last several years, allowing cyber criminals to cost effectively impersonate individuals in voice or video authentication systems, undermining biometric security measures. Attackers also deploy AI-enhanced bots that mimic human behavior to evade security filters, allowing them to automate login attempts without triggering suspicion.
AI for Cyber Defenses
AI helps bolster credential and password security across several key domains, including adaptive security, password management, authentication security, and credential stuffing attack detection.
Adaptive Authentication Systems
AI excels at pattern detection, making it a powerful tool for adaptive authentication systems. These systems analyze user behavior, login patterns, and device characteristics to identify anomalies that may indicate unauthorized access. When an unusual login attempt occurs (e.g., access from an unfamiliar location or an unrecognized device), AI can automatically enforce additional security measures, such as MFA or temporary access restrictions, to prevent potential breaches.
Bolstering Password Management
AI-powered password management tools help enforce stronger password policies by analyzing password strength and automatically preventing the use of compromised credentials. These tools can integrate with databases of leaked credentials to notify users and IT teams if a password has been exposed in a data breach, prompting immediate changes.
Enhancing Authentication Security
Behavioral biometrics use ML models to analyze how users interact with their devices—such as typing speed, mouse movements, and touchscreen gestures—for verifying identity. AI continuously learns from these behavioral patterns and can flag deviations that suggest unauthorized access attempts. And unlike static passwords, which can be stolen or guessed, behavioral biometrics are highly unique to individual users and can be used to enhance authentication security continuously.
Defending Against Credential Stuffing
Credential stuffing is a brute force attack where malicious actors use compromised user credential lists to breach into a system. AI defends against credential stuffing by analyzing user behavior, detecting anomalies, and blocking automated bot-driven attacks. By monitoring login attempts in real time and identifying suspicious activity based on various factors (e.g., location, device fingerprinting, failed login attempts), AI-powered security solutions can filter out malicious traffic and—when integrated with systems to automatically identify compromised credentials—mitigate credential stuffing attacks.
AI is now being used to both compromise and protect passwords, making it crucial for cyber defenders to assume their adversaries are well-equipped and to strengthen their defenses with AI-driven security measures. To safeguard existing passwords, organizations should ensure they are protected against both traditional and AI-powered threats.
Specops Password Policy offers automated protection by continuously scanning for compromised passwords in your Active Directory (AD) environment—speak with an expert today and learn how it can enhance your organization’s password security.
