EU official: AI strengthens cybersecurity while creating new threats

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the cybersecurity landscape, simultaneously enhancing defense capabilities while enabling malicious actors to conduct attacks with unprecedented speed and on a much larger scale, Mariam Haji-Ismayilova, Programme Officer for International Assistance and Cooperation at the European Union Delegation to Azerbaijan, said at the 8th Summit of IT Leaders of State Institutions in Baku, Report informs.

The official stressed that AI helps identify software vulnerabilities, detect suspicious network activity and prevent cyberattacks. However, malicious actors can also use it to automate attacks, generate phishing messages and conduct cyber operations at an unprecedented speed, she added.

Haji-Ismayilova noted that this clearly demonstrates how AI can serve both as a tool for protection and as a source of new threats.

"Therefore, to protect our digital environment, we must mobilize available capabilities, networks, institutional cooperation and legal frameworks. The EU recognizes a fundamental truth: without security, innovation is like a house built on sand," she said.

Haji-Ismayilova also pointed out that the EU's cybersecurity and AI action plan focuses on three key objectives: promoting the safe and responsible use of advanced AI, strengthening the EU's cybersecurity and resilience, and developing European capabilities in the application of AI to cybersecurity.