RFA, a global provider of IT, cybersecurity, and cloud services for the financial sector, has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) is increasing cybersecurity risks for private equity firms.
In an exclusive interview with Benzinga, Global Managing Director and Chief Risk Officer (CRO) George Ralph noted that not only are these threats becoming more sophisticated, but many executives are also discussing the potential risk for more AI-related scams.
Advancements in AI are lowering barriers to entry for hacking, as less-skilled individuals can now execute more sophisticated cyberattacks than in the past.
“Hackers before had a specific skill and now AI helps everyone have that skill. There’s more entry points in terms of human error, bad leavers. There’s lower skilled threat actors who can use prompt AI to help them work out how to do malicious code or feeding errors back into AI,” Ralph said.
Governance Gaps And AI-Driven Threats
Approximately 72% of private equity firms across the U.S. and Europe reported a serious cyber incident at one of their portfolio companies in the past three years, with an average cost of $3.4 million per incident, advisory and executive search firm Russell Reynolds wrote in a report.
Ralph stated that he has run into cases where a firm hasn’t issued proper governance controls for AI, and they’ve just let people …
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