Page 125 - Cyber Defense eMagazine June 2024

Stop Chasing the AI Squirrel and Patch… Just

Patch

By Craig Burland, CISO, Inversion6

In the contemporary technological landscape, the allure of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems
often captivates the collective imagination of the tech industry and beyond. Stories of deepfakes, such
as the recent incident where a CEO appeared to say compromising things during a virtual call—
engineered through sophisticated AI—fuel anxieties and fascinations. However, while such scenarios
grab headlines and provoke fears about the future of digital security, they distract from a far more
mundane and immediate threat: the lack of basic cyber hygiene.

Based on the latest Verizon 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), the percentage of breaches
directly attributable to AI was 0%. That’s right. Zero. The percentage of breaches directly attributable
to exploitation of vulnerabilities was 15%, having grown by 180% over the previous twelve months. The
other two big contributors: credential theft and phishing. Looking beyond just data breaches, the
Ponemon Institute found that 57% of cyberattack victims stated that applying a patch would have
prevented the attack. 34% say they knew about the vulnerability before the attack. This statistic reveals
a critical disconnect in organizational priorities and resource allocation. Companies are so enthralled by

Cyber Defense eMagazine – June 2024 Edition 125
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