Australia warns of 'unprecedented' AI threat

The agency, the Australian Signals Directorate, said foreign governments are turning the technology loose to hack computer networks and critical infrastructure. The report quotes the directorate's description of the threat as "unprecedented" and lists both computer networks and critical infrastructure as the targets.

The Australian Signals Directorate said it issued more than 4,400 warnings about potentially malicious activity over the past year. The report states that this is an 80 percent increase on the prior twelve months. The warnings are described as concerning potentially malicious activity, and the comparison is drawn between the past year and the twelve months preceding it. The agency did not, in the report, break the warnings down by sector, by outcome, or by whether any resulted in confirmed compromise.

The report frames the threat as one driven by foreign governments, which it says are using artificial intelligence against computer networks and critical infrastructure. It does not name the governments involved, identify specific intrusions or victims, or describe which AI systems are being used. The report also does not give the absolute number of warnings issued in the earlier twelve-month period against which the 80 percent increase is measured; only the current figure of more than 4,400 warnings appears in the report.