LIVE FROM DTW IGNITE, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK: The heads of technology from Vodafone Group and BT Group warned of an increasingly menacing security landscape, with AI providing new ways of both defence and attack.
During a keynote session, BT chief security and networks officer Howard Watson (pictured, left) stated there is currently an “unprecedented” threat level across state and criminal actors.
He added the operator had changed its mentality from traditional security tactics to an outlook of “assume somebody’s in, find ways of detection” and act as quickly as possible, adding there is also a requirement to work across industry to stay ahead of criminals.
Vodafone CTO Scott Petty (pictured, right) added it is “hard to articulate just how skilful the attackers are, how well funded and resourced they are and how quickly they evolve their model”.
Watson pointed to use of information on the network combined with AI to “understand the threats”, crediting this alongside “work with organisations like the National Cyber Security Centre” and other operators for being the only way “we are able to keep slightly ahead of that threat”.
Petty noted Vodafone also used AI to “help us understand and track events”, adding attackers do not “use sophisticated tools, they use the tools that we use” to attempt to gain access.
“We need to evolve at a really fast pace to stay ahead of them because they use access points and exposure points incredibly well against us.”
Attacks
The Vodafone tech chief indicated as well as being part of the defence, AI also has the potential to cause issues of its own, referencing the risk of generative AI “in the area of social engineering of our employees”, noting a criminal’s “ability to look and act like internal organisations is massively enhanced” by the technology.
Petty stated among the things “we can do better as an industry” is talking about threats, voicing frustration with complaints from third parties about the length of time it takes to get through its “security by design” process.
He added the policy was “really deliberate because the people attacking us will find a way in a very short period of time” to use any gap.