Fight AI-powered cyber attacks with AI tools, intelligence leaders say

Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks meets with National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) Director U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth for the 41st annual Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association Spring Intelligence Symposium at the NGA Campus East, Springfield, Va., April 25, 2023. (DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Alexander Kubitza)

By Lauren C. Williams • Sep 11, 2025

Cyber defenders need AI tools to fend off a new generation of AI-powered attacks, the head of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency said Wednesday.

“The concept of using AI to combat AI attack or something like that is very real to us. So this, again, is commanders’ business. You need to enable your [chief information security officer] with the tools that he or she needs in order to employ AI to properly handle AI-generated threats,” Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth said at the Billington Cybersecurity Summit Wednesday.

Artificial intelligence has reshaped cyber, making it easier for hackers to manipulate data and craft more convincing fraud campaigns, like phishing emails used in ransomware attacks.