AI systems are fully capable of carrying out nightmare attacks against infrastructure and nobody's ready

Autonomous AI systems are fully capable of carrying out a nightmare cyberattack scenario – finding and attacking critical operational technology and industrial equipment, and shutting down access to water, power, and other daily life necessities. If this happens, defenders may only have minutes to detect and block it, according to a Booz Allen Hamilton report. The consulting firm’s operational technology (OT) lab tested eight scenarios to examine advanced models’ capabilities within an autonomous, AI-enabled OT attack chain. The models achieved the objectives across all eight scenarios, turning digital access into physical actions – in one case finding and moving a robotic arm in just minutes. In another test, the models progressed from a perimeter compromise to actions inside an industrial control network in just over 16 minutes. …