Interpol’s chief information security officer Bjorn R Watne said AI makes cybercrime faster and easier to scale. Speaking on Thursday, he noted that AI helps scammers target many victims at once. He warned companies to protect their critical assets, adding, "It's an evolution and not a revolution," regarding these digital threats.
Artificial intelligence is making existing cybercrime tactics such as scams and fraud faster and easier to scale, rather than creating entirely new methods, Interpol's global chief information security officer Bjorn R Watne said.
Speaking to CNBC on the sidelines of Tech Week Singapore on Thursday, Watne said AI allows scam operators to target multiple victims simultaneously. Improved translation tools and digital identities are also making it increasingly difficult to distinguish fraudulent interactions from genuine ones.
"It's an evolution and not a revolution," Watne said, adding that AI is primarily increasing the "speed and scale" of existing techniques.
What companies should protect
Watne said companies should first identify their "crown jewels" - the assets most critical to keeping their operations running - and determine who could be interested in stealing or disrupting them.
Businesses can then use threat intelligence to understand the tactics and technologies used by potential adversaries and tailor their defences accordingly.
"There is no need for everyone to try and protect against everything all at once when they're not being targeted by it," Watne said. The required defences can differ depending on whether a company faces opportunistic criminals or advanced persistent threat actors, he added.
Watne also pointed to a disconnect between senior management and cybersecurity strategies at some companies. "There are still many industries where they haven't realized that everyone today is an IT company," he said.
Agentic AI raises new risks
Watne said he is particularly concerned about agentic AI as systems gain the ability to act on users' behalf. Errors could have consequences beyond providing incorrect information, particularly when AI is used in the physical world.