Cybercrime trends, how AI helps and hurts NBC Bay Area [Video]

When it comes to cybercrime, hackers don’t take holidays. Experts say cybercrime actors will become even more sophisticated next year, due in part to the rise of AI.

Sandra Joyce, vice president of threat intelligence for Google, said the latest trends in cybercrime include using AI, creating more believable phishing emails or texts that look like you missed a payment.

“People really need to think twice before they click on anything,” Joyce said. “Including things that seem really, really realistic…to get you really nervous and get you to click on something.”

However, Joyce said AI can help catch these cybersecurity threats. At Google, Joyce said they trained their large language models to recognize scam-related language.

To protect from cyberattacks, setting up multi-factor authentication is the best defense. For organizations, protect the cyberspace by ensuring employees are aware and trained on recognizing cyberthreats.