Eric Iversen

Uh oh

On a Friday afternoon in 2019, a British energy company executive got a call from his CEO asking him to move money to an account in Hungary to pay a bill that was about to come due. As most people do in response to requests from their boss, he got right on the job, transferring over $240,000 to the specified account.

Except the call did not come from his CEO. It came from a voice simulator program, driven by artificial intelligence, or AI, that can record, analyze, and reproduce vocal rhythms and intonations to generate an imitation of someone’s voice that is indistinguishable from reality. Such an AI voice can say whatever the programmer tells it to, even if the actual person never did, or never would, say the same thing.

New threats, new defenses

This kind of AI-enabled simulation, or “deepfake,” can come in audio or video form, and it threatens to wreak havoc in all kinds of situations where people rely on their eyes and ears to tell them what is real or not. And it is just one of the many ways in which cyber criminals use AI as a weapon in their schemes to scam and steal from as many people as often as they can. They can steal identities by the thousands and automate operations to empty bank accounts, spread malware, and steal valuable data. AI-enabled exploits can even be built to alter their own digital footprints to evade discovery and persist in networks long after an initial attack runs its course.

Cybersecurity companies, however, are also putting AI-enabled protections to work against such AI-enabled attacks. Machine-speed scanning and defense programs can identify and prevent attacks on multiple fronts before they do meaningful harm. Some detect anomalies in online account activities and prevent theft. Some scan systems for vulnerabilities that human programmers could never find and execute autonomous security updates. And some identify attacks in progress and direct defensive resources to neutralize threats at speeds vastly greater than any human response could manage.

A federal response

The federal government is mobilizing, as well, in the effort to deploy AI for good in cybersecurity applications. In November, the Department of Homeland Security released a "roadmap" for AI and cybersecurity that laid out steps "to both leverage AI and mitigate its risks to our critical infrastructure and cyber defenses.” In addition, it identifies workforce development as a priority.

Showing students the way

For students, putting government resources towards workforce development means that jobs in the field will become only more plentiful. And AI skills are already in great demand – a 2022 study of some 54,000 cybersecurity job applicants found that only one percent had relevant AI skills. Such shortages come at a time when spending in the workplace on AI-based cybersecurity solutions is expected to increase by more than 20 percent a year for the next five years, reaching some $60 billion by 2028.

If you want to help students find their way into a cybersecurity career, you can find much more information about AI and cybersecurity – as well as a great range of other paths of entry into the field – in the latest edition of our Cybersecurity Career Guide. Just published in an updated, expanded 4th edition, the career guide gives a comprehensive overview of the field as well full treatment of the many, varied pathways into the field. From certificates to two- and four-year degrees to graduate study, programs are described in detail to show students of all kinds how they can find the pathway that works for them to get into the field.

Free shipping offer

To mark the publication of this new edition, we are offering free shipping on orders of $50 or more. Use the code 50FREESHIP in our online shop to take advantage of this offer. And as always, we offer customization on bulk orders, opening up the back covers and inside front cover to organizations that want to add their own logo and message to the guide. Please be in touch with any questions or comments!

Eric Iversen is VP for Learning and Communications at Start Engineering. Comments and feedback are always welcome.

Our goal at Start Engineering is to help make STEM careers imaginable and accessible to kids of all backgrounds and interests. We publish educational and career outreach books in STEM fields like engineering, cybersecurity, and biotechnology, with more topics to come. Check out our newest releases here!