Artificial intelligence and its’ legal risk to cybersecurity

The risk pertaining to data and technology are continuously growing in scale and severity as the dependence on, and advancement in technology grows. The last decade has seen hundreds of cases of identity theft, loss of money and data breaches. It is estimated that by the year 2021, cybercrime losses may cost upwards of $6 million annually. Due to the constant risk of intrusions, the tech industry, businesses and government bodies must safeguard technology and data and this is where cybersecurity plays a major and critical role. It may be considered as the first line of defense against intrusions. The tools and techniques developed and supported by AI and machine learning (ML) are now expanding to cybersecurity to protect against cybercrime. There are many advantages in using AI-ML technology for cybersecurity but it is a double-edged sword. Just as AI cybersecurity technology may be used to more accurately identify and stop intrusions, the AI systems may be exploited for the commission of cybercrime. Cybersecurity is not an issue that a government can address on its own; it requires multi-stakeholders to work together in addressing the legal risk AI-ML technology presents to cybersecurity. The discussion is divided into two parts: Part 1 explores the beneficial use of AI cybersecurity technology; and Part 2 considers the harmful use of AI such as data breaches and the commission of cybercrimes. Cybersecurity and cybercrime are issues that cannot be separated from each other. AI-driven cybersecurity technology must keep pace with the legal risk that the use of AI in the commission of cybercrime poses otherwise it cannot effectively prevent, detect, respond to and recover from an intrusion. A preventative approach rather than a detection-focused approach should be applied to cybersecurity. The discussion identifies the legal risk that the use of AI for cybersecurity presents and how it may be addressed by means of ethics, policies and laws.