AI-enabled cyberthreats could target financial services, critical infrastructure such as banks, utility providers

The National Cyber Emergency Response Team (NCERT) has issued a warning regarding the potential for AI-enabled cyberthreats to target financial services and critical infrastructure, including banks and utility providers. The advisory, released on November 5, highlights the increased use of artificial intelligence, automated bots, botnets, and agentic tools to execute credential-based and coordinated cyberattacks.

These advanced capabilities may significantly enhance the scale, speed, and sophistication of cybercriminal operations. Critical infrastructure and financial services are identified as the most vulnerable targets, with potential attacks aimed at disrupting online services, exploiting core banking systems, manipulating digital banking platforms, and compromising payment systems.

The advisory cites recent incidents in Europe where supermarket refrigerators and freezers were targeted in cyberattacks, underscoring the potential for physical and commercial consequences of attacks against connected operational systems.

Brief written by urgent.news from Dawn - Pakistan's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.