Nilay Patel interviewed Alex Stamos, a longtime security expert, on the Decoder podcast. Stamos is now chief security officer at Cognition and lectures at Stanford. He said the security industry is being reshaped by AI.
He described the past month as brutal. Several major software bugs appeared, and many companies were breached. He said criminal groups and state actors like Russia and North Korea use AI to find and exploit weaknesses faster.
Stamos does not think the internet is doomed. But he expects a dark period while companies and governments learn to defend against AI-powered attacks.
🔍 The Backstory
Cyberattacks used to need skilled people and plenty of time. AI tools can now scan code and systems quickly, and write convincing fake messages. That lowers the cost of an attack and raises the number of attempts.
Stamos has worked in security for decades, including at Facebook, and is known for plain talk about hard problems rather than hype.
🎯 Why It Matters
Most people keep bank details, photos and health records online. Faster attacks mean more breaches, more scams and more time spent fixing stolen accounts.
Nilay Patel interviewed Alex Stamos, a longtime security expert, on the Decoder podcast. Stamos is now chief security officer at Cognition and lectures at Stanford. He said the security industry is being reshaped by AI.
He described the past month as brutal. Several major software bugs appeared, and many companies were breached. He said criminal groups and state actors like Russia and North Korea use AI to find and exploit weaknesses faster.
Stamos does not think the internet is doomed. But he expects a dark period while companies and governments learn to defend against AI-powered attacks.
Cyberattacks used to need skilled people and plenty of time. AI tools can now scan code and systems quickly, and write convincing fake messages. That lowers the cost of an attack and raises the number of attempts.
Stamos has worked in security for decades, including at Facebook, and is known for plain talk about hard problems rather than hype.
Most people keep bank details, photos and health records online. Faster attacks mean more breaches, more scams and more time spent fixing stolen accounts.