ICO shares 5 steps organisations can take to protect from AI-powered attacks

A blog article by Ian Hulme, Interim Executive Director for Regulatory Supervision at the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), outlines five steps organisations can take to protect themselves from AI-powered attacks. Hulme cautions that cybercriminals are increasingly using AI to execute faster, more advanced, and harder-to-detect attacks. Such threats range from AI-generated phishing emails impersonating trusted contacts to automated tools that scan for and exploit software vulnerabilities.

As the data protection regulator, the ICO is urging organisations to invest in cyber resilience to maintain public trust. The practical steps organisations can take to mitigate these AI-powered risks include understanding the potential threat landscape, implementing layered defences starting with basic hygiene, restricting network access points, improving detection, monitoring, and incident response capabilities, and ensuring robust measures remain in place to protect personal data.

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