Cybersecurity experts have claimed that for the first time, an artificial intelligence (AI) agent has carried out a complete cyber attack from start to finish without any human help.
According to the report, this automated attack was of the nature of ransomware, in which the data of the affected system is encrypted and a ransom is demanded to restore it.
Researchers from cloud security company Sysdig have named this AI attacker Jade Puffer.
According to them, the AI first infiltrated a vulnerable server, then obtained passwords and login information, after which it encrypted the production database and demanded a ransom in Bitcoin.
Researchers say that this incident is a significant development in both the fields of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. However, it has also raised concerns that AI could make it easier than ever for cybercriminals to carry out attacks.
According to Michael Clarke, Director of Threat Research at SysDig, ransomware attacks have always involved a human at some stage, whether the attack was carried out directly or scripted. But in this incident, AI carried out the entire attack itself, which is being considered a new development in the field of cybersecurity.