The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) issued a warning Tuesday on the dangers of generative artificial intelligence (AI), calling it a double-edged sword that can strengthen cybersecurity and but can also be exploited for cybercrime.
At the GovX.0 Summit in Pasay City, Robert Sanchez Paguia, CICC Data Protection Officer, said that while generative AI is a breakthrough technology, it poses significant risks to privacy, security and public trust.
“Generative AI refers to a subset of artificial intelligence that focuses on creating new content such as text, images, audio and even code,” he said.
“Unlike the traditional artificial intelligence, which is designed to analyze and interpret data, generative AI can produce original outputs based on the data that it is trained on,” he added.
Paguia explained that generative AI is considered the next generation artificial intelligence as it focuses on performing specific tasks intelligently.
He noted that while generative AI drives innovation, it is also being used by cybercriminals to manipulate information, launch cyberattacks and even commit fraud.
The CICC warned that cybercriminals are weaponizing generative AI for a range of malicious activities, including misinformation and deepfakes, training data leakage, data privacy abuser inputs, AI model poisoning, exploitation of bias, phishing attacks, and malware attacks.
“And this can be used, actually, in the upcoming 2025 elections. Of course, there are a lot of people who will be manipulating our elections and we should be ready,” Paguia said.
However, despite said risks, he also underscored the value of AI in enhancing cyber security.
He said that generative AI may be used in threat simulation and training to help security teams prepare for cyber threats, create automated incident response, and advance threat detection.
The CICC said the government must use AI as a defensive tool as cybercriminals are already using it.
Paguia said the CICC operates an Inter-Agency Response Center, a 24/7 command center where all computer-related data or cyber-related threats may be reported.
Source: https://www.pna.gov.ph/
