AI systems are fully capable of carrying out attacks against infrastructure


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.

Read more…
Source:  The Register News


Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • New Prompt Injection Attack Vectors Through MCP Sampling

    December 5, 2025

    This article examines the security implications of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) sampling feature in the context of a widely used coding copilot application. MCP is a standard for connecting large language model (LLM) applications to external data sources and tools. We show that, without proper safeguards, malicious MCP servers can exploit the sampling feature for ...

  • Principles for the Secure Integration of Artificial Intelligence in Operational Technology

    December 3, 2025

    Since the public release of ChatGPT in November 2022, artificial intelligence (AI) has been integrated into many facets of human society. For critical infrastructure owners and operators, AI can potentially be used to increase efficiency and productivity, enhance decision-making, save costs, and improve customer experience. Despite the many benefits, integrating AI into operational technology (OT) environments ...

  • Unraveling Water Saci’s New Multi-Format, AI-Enhanced Attacks Propagated via WhatsApp

    December 2, 2025

    Brazil has seen a recent surge of threats delivered via WhatsApp. As observed in Trend Micro previously published research on the SORVEPOTEL malware and the broader Water Saci campaignopen on a new tab, this popular platform has been used to launch sophisticated campaigns. Unsuspecting users receive convincing messages from trusted contacts, often crafted to exploit social ...

  • OpenAI Data Breach Exposes User Data

    December 1, 2025

    A few days ago, on November 26th, right before Thanksgiving, OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, confirmed a recent security breach incident that started towards the beginning of November, which impacted its users, specifically those connected through OpenAI’s APIs. What caused the data breach? “On November 9, 2025, Mixpanel became aware of an attacker that gained unauthorized ...

  • The Dual-Use Dilemma of AI: Malicious LLMs

    November 25, 2025

    A fundamental challenge with large language models (LLMs) in a security context is that their greatest strengths as defensive tools are precisely what enable their offensive power. This issue is known as the dual-use dilemma, a concept typically applied to technologies like nuclear physics or biotechnology, but now also central to AI. Any tool powerful enough ...

  • Understanding the future of offensive AI in cybersecurity

    November 19, 2025

    As we step into an era where artificial intelligence (AI) plays an increasingly significant role in cybersecurity, discussions surrounding its offensive capabilities are becoming more prominent. A recent report by Anthropic—a leading AI research lab—has sparked the latest conversation on this topic, with questions raised about their claim that an AI-assisted attack they observed was ...