6/15/22, 11:48 AM Are You Ready for Self-Learning Malware?

Are You Ready for Self-

Learning Malware?
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JAN 12, 2021

For decades, the ongoing battle between

cybercriminals and security developers has been
hallmarked by growing sophistication. As bad actors
find more advanced ways to attack, security experts
are coming up with more innovative ways to counter
those attacks and to predict what the next breed of
attacks will look like. The prediction, today, is that
cybercriminals are developing self-learning malware
and the experts believe this will be deployable in the
not too distant future. Here, we’ll take a closer look
at self-learning malware and how it could be
deployed.     

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Today, there is little evidence that self-learning

malware is in the wild. The majority of threats are
operated by cybergangs and the actions they take
during an attack are often based on the information
their malware feeds back to them. The nearest thing
that bad actors have in their arsenal, at present, is
autonomous software. Although it doesn’t make use
of machine learning, it is programmed in such a way
that it knows how to infiltrate and operate in the
environments it infects and can do so without being
remotely controlled.

Where self-learning malware definitely does exist, is

in the research lab. Both cybercriminals and
defence teams are working on its development but
for opposite purposes. In security labs, it is being
developed to find vulnerabilities in existing, AI-
based defence environments, so that security
technology can be improved to counter the next
wave of threats. Those self-learning threats, experts
believe, will be available to cybercriminals in the
next few years and will be able to beat the best
security systems currently in place.

The reason that this can happen is that the

technology to create this type of malware is much
easier for criminals to get hold of. Open source
datasets and machine learning and AI tools are
easily accessible and becoming easier to use, while
the low cost of cloud hosting makes it cheap to
create development environments. 

What will these threats look like?

According to next-gen firewall developer, Fortinet,
cybercriminals will begin to use ‘hivenets’, which are
intelligent clusters of compromised devices. These
devices will be able to communicate with each other
and undertake activity based on shared intelligence
gleaned from machines swallowed up by the
network. From this, Fortinet believes, they will use
self-learning to attack vulnerable systems on a
scale previously unimaginable.

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Individual compromised machines within the hivenet

will be made ‘smart’ by the self-learning malware,
enabling them to carry out commands without the
need for a human hacker. This will allow a hivenet
to expand into a swarm of machines capable of
multiple, simultaneous attacks while, at the same
time, being able to counter the victim’s security
system’s response.

Prior to using this form of attack, cybercriminals will

also make use of ‘swarm-bots’. Like hivenets, these
are also clusters of compromised devices but lack
self-learning capability. What they can do, however,
is prepare the ground for the hivenet attack. This is
achieved by using the swarms to simultaneously
identify and target different attack vectors,
something that they can do on a huge scale and at
lightning speed. This will allow cybercriminals to find
and target vulnerable systems much quicker before
the hivenet takes over to launch multiple attacks.

When it comes to cyber defence, existing AI-based

cybersecurity tools will need to improve both speed
and sophistication. While humans will certainly be
needed in their development, the cyberwar of the
not too distant future will be one of machine versus
machine. Here, self-learning will be a critical
component of security.

How big a threat will self-learning

malware be?
While self-learning malware is destined to become
a powerful tool for cybercriminals, its use will be
limited to some of the more aggressive and
sophisticated gangs, including state-sponsored
attackers. It certainly won’t be the cheapest tool
available and, for many cybergangs, it won’t be
needed: too many systems are so weakly defended
that hackers won’t need such advanced means to
break in.

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With so many existing systems vulnerable, many

malware developers will concentrate on creating
software that’s aimed at low hanging fruit and which
is more likely to provide them with a bigger return
on their investment. Similarly, cybercriminals will
find it easier to use phishing and social engineering
to obtain login credentials and less expensive to
install cheaply available malware.

However, as organisations become more secure

and the easy attack routes of today become less
useful to them, they will need to adopt more
advanced means. By which time, of course, self-
learning malware, like ransomware today, may be
sold as a service to criminal outfits. This will give
them the means to attack without the need to buy
the tool, only rent it; nor will they need the expertise
to carry out an attack as that will be provided by the
malware vendor. 

Indeed, AI and self-learning are even being

developed for use with phishing and social
engineering. These tools will scrape information
about targets, e.g. stolen data sold on the dark web,
social media posts and publicly available
information, etc., and use these to generate
messages that are convincing enough to get victims
to disclose login credentials or click on malware-
installing links.

Conclusion
Cyberattacks are one of the biggest threats facing
organisations. They take down systems, disrupt
operations, steal personal data and business
intelligence, and ransom companies for significant
sums. On top of that, there’s the risk of heavy fines
for non-compliance and data breaches, and of
reputational damage caused by the news of an
attack. As technology develops, the methods used
to carry out an attack grow in sophistication. For all
organisations, it is essential that your systems are
as secure as possible.

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our range of hosting solutions and security tools.  

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