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AI’s Impact on Cybersecurity | What You Need to Know

Markham Board of Trade (MBOT), Markham, ON, Canada

Understanding Cybersecurity Series (UCS) for Business Owners

As part of our Understanding Cybersecurity Series (UCS) knowledge mobilization project, this fall, our director, Prof. Lashkari, delivered a cybersecurity talk and joined the panel on “AI’s Impact on Cybersecurity | What You Need to Know” event in Markham, ON, Canada.

AI offers significant benefits to cybersecurity, such as enhancing threat detection through machine learning algorithms, automating responses to breaches, and improving overall system monitoring by identifying patterns in large datasets. However, it also presents challenges. On one hand, AI-powered automated attacks can enable cybercriminals to launch more sophisticated and targeted intrusions at scale, while comprehensive malware can adapt and evade traditional security measures. Additionally, AI systems are vulnerable to adversarial attacks, where attackers exploit weaknesses in AI models to bypass defenses or manipulate outcomes. Thus, AI is both a powerful tool and a potential liability in cybersecurity.