AI-based Cybersecurity Attacks and Countermeasures in IoT Environment: A Survey

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) has been considered an innovative integrated solution that opened opportunities for intelligent appliances to communicate over the Internet. However, IoT suffers from various cybersecurity threats because of its openness and the constraints of the used devices that share substantial amounts of classified information. Artificial intelligence (AI) is an effective key technology in solving cybersecurity issues. Cybercriminals are adopting AI techniques to conduct sophisticated attacks on IoT environments. Precise and elusive attacks across various applications have exemplified the deliberate employment of artificial intelligence for malicious intentions. Threat actors are constantly changing and improving their attack strategies with particular emphasis on applying AI-driven techniques in the attack process, called AI-based cybersecurity attacks, which can be used with conventional attack techniques to cause considerable damage. Moreover, AI techniques can be utilized in cyber-attack countermeasures and have proven effective. Unfortunately, these types of attacks and countermeasures have not been investigated enough in the existing literature. This paper surveys the current studies of AI-based cybersecurity attacks and countermeasures in the IoT environment. The aspects captured by this paper highlight future research in this field and will assist in recognizing the power and impact of using AI in cybersecurity, especially in the IoT environment.