Robots may take over cybercrime by 2030, researchers say

Models of killer robots from 'Terminator 2' on display at the Robot Dessert Cafe in Thailand.

(Paradigm credit: phol_66/Shutterstock)

Cybercrime in the year 2030 volition be run by figurer programs that are intelligent, self-learning and difficult to defend against, two researchers predicted at the RSA Briefing Monday (May 17).

Dr. Victoria Baines of Oxford University and Rik Ferguson of information-security firm Trend Micro used existing trends to forecast that lodge and everyday life will be probable even more than wired — and wireless — than today, and that criminals would apace arrange. Their white paper, "Project 2030," tin can be downloaded from the Trend Micro website.

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For ordinary people in rich countries, Baines and Ferguson predict, wearable devices volition monitor health and program diets. Smart-domicile devices will talk to each other and coordinate their users' schedules.

Instant admission to all the world's knowledge means schoolchildren volition no longer memorize facts and figures. As in "Black Mirror," bogus intelligence could even keep human personalities "alive" on social media long after their physical bodies take died.

And fighting cybercrime volition entail battling robots that are relentless, smart and adaptive, Baines and Ferguson said. Because repetitive tasks volition become much more automated, cybercriminals will let reckoner programs conduct reconnaissance to find new victims.

"All organizations and sectors of society will make use of artificially intelligent tools," their report says. "This inevitably will include bad actors, be they individuals, criminal enterprises or nation-states."

Previous predictions turned out to exist right

Baines and Ferguson cautioned that "the events and developments described are designed to be plausible in some parts of the world, every bit opposed to inevitable in all." But they said that a similar exercise in 2012, called "Project 2020," ended up existence pretty accurate.

Because ordinary lives will be so wired by 2030, all of the aspects of ordinary life tin can exist hacked and lives may exist lost. Criminals could change the drugs that are automatically delivered by medical implants, change the information going into smart contact lenses or neural implants, or reprogram cars' navigation functions. Nations will use artificial intelligence to defend themselves and attack others.

"Cyberattacks will be almost losing humans, not data," Baines said during the presentation. "Past 2030, countries will launch cyberattacks on each other by mistake and without human intervention."

Malware will learn new tricks and adapt to new situations on its own. Algorithms rather than humans will carry out social-applied science attacks, engaging in online conversations with potential victims to trick them out of their coin or valuable data.

Industry will be so highly automatic that encrypting ransomware will be outmoded. Criminals will instead hack directly into a company'due south processes and threaten to disrupt operations unless they're paid not to.

Botnets will invade the smart devices in a visitor's offices to launch attacks from within.

Is that my boss, or is that a deepfake?

Deepfakes volition invade workplace teleconferencing, so that you'll never be completely certain whether you're talking to your dominate or to a robot. Meanwhile, identity thieves truly will steal your identity, using the massive amount of available data well-nigh you to create avatars that volition accept your identify on social media and in online business meetings.

"Footage generated by AI ... is now and so accurate and and then lifelike that citizens are unable to tell the difference between synthetic and authentic content," says the report. "Disinformation has evolved into fully-fledged immersive conversations with artificially generated avatars, capable of irresolute citizens' minds or even corporate policy."

Baines and Ferguson didn't offer much in the way of defenses that we could use to counter cybercrime in this brave new earth. We've got a bit of time to go ready, they noted.

"It is possible to map out the development of cybercrime," Baines said during the RSA presentation. "Dubiousness is no longer a reason for lack of preparedness."

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Paul Wagenseil is a senior editor at Tom's Guide focused on security and privacy. He has also been a dishwasher, fry cook, long-haul driver, lawmaking monkey and video editor. He's been rooting around in the data-security infinite for more than 15 years at FoxNews.com, SecurityNewsDaily, TechNewsDaily and Tom's Guide, has presented talks at the ShmooCon, DerbyCon and BSides Las Vegas hacker conferences, shown up in random Telly news spots and even moderated a panel discussion at the CEDIA home-engineering science conference. You can follow his rants on Twitter at @snd_wagenseil.