Prioritize phishing-resistant multifactor authentication (MFA), prompt patching of known exploited vulnerabilities, least privilege, protected and actively monitored logs, isolated backups with tested recovery, and recurring staff training. AI can make deception more convincing and help attackers work faster or at greater scale, but these controls still address common ways attackers gain access, expand privileges, evade detection, and disrupt recovery.
What counts as an AI-assisted attack?
The phrase covers two related but different risks. In one, attackers use AI to improve conventional attacks—for example, by creating more convincing phishing messages or synthetic audio and video. In the other, an attacker targets an AI or machine-learning system itself. NIST’s initial preliminary draft Cyber AI Profile, published December 16, 2025, describes AI-enabled attacks as potentially faster, more scalable, and less effort-intensive, and discusses realistic spear-phishing, malicious websites, and help with developing attack paths or malware. These are qualitative threat descriptions, not measurements of how common or successful such attacks are.
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The six controls below focus mainly on protecting an organization’s accounts, systems, and data from AI-enhanced versions of familiar attacks. Organizations that build or deploy AI also need to assess risks to their models, data, and system components. NIST’s final Adversarial Machine Learning: A Taxonomy and Terminology of Attacks and Mitigations (NIST AI 100-2 E2025, March 24, 2025) provides a taxonomy and mitigation discussion; it does not guarantee that any single measure eliminates those risks.
Which controls should an organization prioritize?
1. Require phishing-resistant MFA on high-impact accounts
Start with email, VPN and other remote access, administrator accounts, and access to sensitive systems. Prefer FIDO/WebAuthn security keys or another phishing-resistant method supported by the service. CISA’s More than a Password guidance states: “The only widely available phishing-resistant authentication is FIDO/WebAuthn authentication.” That is CISA’s statement about widely available authentication, not a claim that every deployment has no other possible phishing-resistant method.
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A security key only helps for services that support it, so check compatibility before deployment and provide a secure account-recovery method. Where phishing-resistant MFA is not yet available, number matching can improve on basic push approval as an interim measure; it is not a substitute for phishing-resistant MFA.
| Method | Role | Important qualification |
|---|---|---|
| FIDO/WebAuthn security key | Preferred phishing-resistant MFA where the service supports it | Confirm service compatibility and secure account recovery. |
| Number matching | Interim improvement over basic push approval | Use while working toward phishing-resistant MFA; CISA does not present it as an equivalent replacement. |
| Basic push approval | Less protective than number matching in the interim comparison | Do not treat an approval prompt alone as a phishing-resistant control. |
2. Patch exposed systems, starting with known exploited flaws
Prioritize vulnerabilities known to be exploited and systems reachable from the internet. Keep operating systems, applications, firmware, browsers, and security tools current. AI may help attackers find or exploit weaknesses more quickly, but the cited guidance does not establish a universal AI-specific patch deadline. Set urgency according to exposure, exploit status, and the importance of the affected system rather than inventing a deadline based on AI alone.
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3. Limit privileges and unnecessary access
Apply least privilege and role-based access. Keep administrator accounts separate from routine user accounts, remove inactive or unnecessary accounts, and review permissions. Restrict administrative interfaces and remote access. These steps limit what an attacker can do if a user account or service is compromised; they also reduce the number of accounts that can change security settings or reach sensitive systems.
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Enable relevant identity, administrator, endpoint, network, cloud, and application logging. Centralize the records, protect them from tampering or deletion, and alert on events such as repeated failed logins and privilege escalation. Assign people to review and investigate alerts. As CISA’s Use Logging on Business Systems guidance emphasizes, collecting records without reviewing suspicious activity does not provide timely detection.
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5. Keep backups isolated and prove recovery works
Maintain offline or otherwise isolated backups and regularly test restoration. Restrict backup administration and protect it with strong authentication so a compromised account cannot readily destroy both production data and recovery copies. Judge the arrangement by whether critical data can actually be restored, how long recovery takes, and whether backup access is separated from ordinary production credentials.
6. Train people to verify requests across channels
Cover suspicious requests received by email, messaging, phone, or video. Train staff to independently verify payment, credential, or other sensitive requests using a trusted contact method—not the contact details supplied in the request—and provide a clear way to report suspected deception. Include synthetic voice and video in the discussion, but make clear that training complements technical email and authentication safeguards; it cannot replace them.
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How should you choose between control options?
The best implementation depends on exposed services, account privileges, recovery needs, and the people available to operate the controls. Before selecting or expanding a control, check the practical requirements below:
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- Logging and detection: Check which identity, endpoint, network, and cloud events are covered; how alerts will be triaged; how logs are protected and retained; and whether staff are available to respond.
- Backups: Check separation from production credentials, restoration testing, recovery time, and coverage of critical data.
- Access controls: Identify exposed remote and administrative access, who needs elevated permissions, and how often permissions and inactive accounts will be reviewed.
- Training: Ensure staff know how to verify sensitive requests independently and where to report suspicious activity.
What changes if you build or deploy AI?
Conventional security controls remain relevant, but they do not by themselves resolve risks to an AI model, its data, or the components supporting it. Identify which AI systems and components the organization relies on, what sensitive data they handle, and what could be affected if they were manipulated or compromised. Use NIST’s adversarial machine-learning taxonomy to frame the kinds of attacks and mitigations to assess, while treating the December 2025 Cyber AI Profile as preliminary draft guidance—not as a finalized set of requirements. Neither document establishes a single mitigation that makes an AI system safe from adversarial attacks.
What the available guidance does—and does not—establish
CISA’s #StopRansomware Guide and Enhanced Visibility and Hardening Guidance for Communications Infrastructure support practices such as MFA, patching, backups, logging, least privilege, and account monitoring. NIST’s draft describes AI-enabled threats as an evolving area and notes that many attacks may go undetected as adversary use becomes better understood. These sources do not provide a suitable named statistic quantifying AI-assisted attack prevalence, growth, or comparative effectiveness, so a percentage or growth rate should not be inferred from them. They support broadly applicable controls, not a requirement for every organization to buy a particular commercial AI-security product.
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