Experts warn AI is accelerating cyberattacks on critical services

Cyberattacks, increasingly aided by artificial intelligence, pose a growing threat to hospitals and other critical services, experts told ORF. They warned that AI tools can identify software vulnerabilities faster and across a wider range than before.

René Mayrhofer, head of the Institute for Networks and Security at Johannes Kepler University Linz, said companies are struggling to keep pace with the speed at which new weaknesses are being found. Software considered secure one day may have vulnerabilities the next.

A recent attack on the Upper Austrian Chamber of Labour showed that even extensive protective measures cannot guarantee complete security. The attack affected computer systems and, for a time, prevented office doors from opening. The doors soon worked again, but key IT systems remained unavailable for weeks, forcing some employees to work on paper. The chamber says data can now be restored from a backup.

Cyberattacks can have particularly serious consequences at hospitals and other critical infrastructure, where digital outages can disrupt operating-room procedures and medical care.

The x-tention group, a Wels-based company that develops IT solutions for healthcare providers, says it now sees attacks on healthcare facilities every week. Its owner, Herbert Stöger, said an informal understanding among hackers not to target healthcare institutions no longer applies. The company says at least one of its applications is used in almost every hospital in Austria. It also uses AI to defend against attacks, as Stöger said people can no longer keep up with the speed of modern AI-driven assaults.

Experts say cyberattacks are carried out not only by criminal groups seeking data or ransom payments, but also by state actors. Mayrhofer said North Korea and Russia had used such methods, and that other governments were suspected of doing the same.