By Brooke Thomson
President and CEO

The nation’s most prominent AI and technology companies have a warning for the rest of us:

“In the coming months, AI-enabled cyber-attacks will become far more widespread and sophisticated as models around the world become increasingly capable. The companies and public services our communities depend on—from hospitals to water treatment plants to the infrastructure that powers the internet—are at risk.”

That sobering news comes from an August 27 open letter signed by more than 100 companies, including AIM members Anthropic, Google, Dell and Microsoft. The companies are calling for a collective response during the next several months to fix weaknesses in electronic systems that “have accumulated for years.”

The letter outlines what should happen next:

• Every organization should make cyber defense an immediate leadership priority. “Raise your security standards and meet them with the urgency and coordination of an incident that takes precedence over everything except critical business operations. Fix the highest-risk weaknesses, verify results without disrupting essential services, and raise the security bar for what you buy, build, and deploy, including AI-generated code.”
• Cybersecurity companies and technology partners must lead the response to defend against sustained AI-enabled attacks – testing defenses continuously against frontier cyber capabilities, strengthening existing tools with AI, and working with technology partners to close gaps now.
• Governments must coordinate cyber defense at local, national, and international levels. “Strengthen existing government and industry channels to share actionable threat intelligence, prioritize the most serious risks, and coordinate incident response and recovery around the world. Fund cyber defense, starting with essential services that lack the staff or budget to act.”
• Frontier AI companies must provide responsible model access, significant funding, training, and hands-on support, especially for under-resourced critical-infrastructure defenders.

All this is mildly disconcerting for those of us who run companies that are already targeted by AI-powered scams involving payroll changes, benefits information, employee records, and leave administration.  Cybercriminals have become adept at phishing schemes, deepfake voice messages, and using AI-generated communications to impersonate others and gain access to sensitive data.

The good news is that the 100 tech companies have the influence needed to drive a response. They are calling on leaders across industry and government to bring the full weight of their technology, resources, and expertise to this effort.

“Together, we can turn today’s AI advances into lasting improvements in security that benefit everyone.”

Editor’s note: AIM will conduct a program entitled “Spoofed, Spammed and Phished: How to Spot AIM Scams Before They Reach Your Business” October 8 in Boston.