AI-Driven Attacks Are Becoming More Convincing and More Dangerous
The New Threat Reality: AI Supercharges Both Attackers and Defenders
Artificial intelligence is redefining cybersecurity for small and midsized businesses (SMBs), and the biggest shift is happening in the shadows through the messages employees receive every day. Mike Adler points out that AI has made social engineering attacks far more convincing, producing emails, texts, and chats that look indistinguishable from legitimate communication. Attackers can now mimic tone, writing style, and context with alarming accuracy, making it significantly harder for even trained staff to detect a scam.
The speed and scale of these attacks have grown in parallel. What once required a human attacker crafting messages manually can now be automated and personalized instantly. This gives cybercriminals a powerful advantage, especially when targeting SMBs with limited security resources.
“AI is transforming how attacks happen—and how fast we can stop them.”
— Mike Adler, Executive Vice President, Chief Technical & Product Officer (CTPO), N‑able
But the threat doesn’t only come from outside. Adler highlights the risk of unmanaged AI usage inside organizations, where employees may unknowingly leak sensitive information by pasting data into public AI tools. These incidents create new vulnerabilities that traditional security approaches may not catch.
On the defensive side, AI is shifting from detection where it has been relied on for years to rapid, consistent response. Automated workflows can now communicate more clearly during incidents and carry out parts of remediation at machine speed, reducing risk during critical moments.
The AI Advantage for MSPs: Efficiency, Remediation, and Real-Time Clarity
For managed service providers (MSPs) and small IT teams under constant pressure, the most immediate value of AI comes from efficiency. Adler explains that AI-powered “co‑worker” tools have become a force multiplier, surfacing the right information instantly and eliminating much of the manual, repetitive work that slows technicians down. Whether it’s diagnosing issues, understanding an environment, or navigating large amounts of data, AI reduces the friction that traditionally consumes time and attention.
This boost in efficiency translates not just to operational improvements but also to a better customer experience, as MSPs can resolve issues faster and more accurately.
When it comes to security, Adler believes EDR alert remediation is the single biggest automation opportunity. Many breaches occur not because threats weren’t detected, but because alerts weren’t acted on or resolved fully. AI can now safely handle straightforward EDR cases end-to-end identifying malicious files, removing them, and ensuring complete cleanup.
The next major shift he sees becoming standard across SMBs is AI-driven identity and communications security. Email filtering is already a baseline expectation, but identity-based threat detection and automated response are emerging as the new minimum standard for effective protection.
Still, Adler stresses that automation does not eliminate the need for human judgment. In critical incidents where decisions affect uptime, customer operations, or revenue, people must weigh business impact and risk. AI can collect data, correlate signals, and generate clear communication, but the final decisions remain firmly human.
Building Cyber Resilience Without Adding Complexity
While technology evolves rapidly, Adler believes cyber resilience is built on fundamentals. SMBs can significantly strengthen their defenses by reducing their attack surface and improving visibility across their operations. Tools such as unified endpoint management, identity controls, and consistent patching create strong protection without burdening lean teams.
One of the most overlooked weaknesses he sees in SMB environments is identity protection. Many still imagine attackers “breaking in,” yet most incidents begin with someone simply logging in using compromised credentials. Strengthening identity-focused security is both simple to deploy and immediately impactful.
By combining automated remediation, AI-driven identity protection, and human oversight where it matters most, SMBs can build powerful, modern resilience without adding complexity just clarity.