Advent of Cyber Day 4
Day 4 — AI for Cyber Security
A Hands-On Christmas Showcase
Introduction
Welcome to Day 4 of the festive cyber security journey!
As snow melts around the data centre of The Best Festival Company (TBFC), servers hum with activity. This year, TBFC decided to retire their legacy chatbot, Van Chatty, and introduce a more advanced assistant — Van SolveIT.
Van SolveIT is an AI-powered cyber security assistant designed to help the elves work faster, smarter, and more securely. As Christmas approaches, the AI is used to identify vulnerabilities, automate repetitive tasks, and strengthen TBFC’s cyber defenses before any grinches attempt to disrupt the celebrations.
🎯 Learning Objectives
By the end of this showcase, you will understand:
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How AI supports different cyber security roles
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How AI assistants can be used for real-world cyber tasks
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Key risks and limitations of AI in cyber security
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Practical applications in defensive, offensive, and software security
🔌 Connecting to the Environment
Before starting, deploy the following:
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Target VM
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AttackBox
Ensure both machines are running.
Access the AI showcase via:
(Use the AttackBox or a VPN-connected device.)
🤖 AI in Cyber Security
Artificial Intelligence is rapidly transforming cyber security. Vendors integrate AI because it excels at handling scale, speed, and complexity—areas where humans struggle.
🔍 AI Strengths and Cyber Security Use Cases
| AI Capability | Cyber Security Application |
|---|---|
| Large-scale data processing | Log analysis, network monitoring, system behaviour analysis |
| Behaviour analysis | Anomaly detection and threat identification |
| Generative AI | Alert summarisation and incident context generation |
🔵 AI in Defensive Security
For blue teams, AI enhances efficiency by:
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Detecting threats in real time
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Automatically triaging alerts
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Isolating compromised endpoints
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Blocking phishing emails
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Monitoring abnormal login behaviour
AI helps reduce alert fatigue while improving detection accuracy.
🔴 AI in Offensive Security
Red teams use AI to automate time-consuming tasks such as:
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Reconnaissance and OSINT
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Scanning and parsing large datasets
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Attack surface mapping
This allows security testers to focus on creative exploitation and strategy, rather than repetitive groundwork.
⚙️ AI in Software Security
In application security, AI assists developers by:
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Performing automated code reviews
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Supporting SAST and DAST analysis
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Identifying common vulnerabilities
However, AI still struggles to consistently generate secure code. Human oversight remains essential.
⚠️ Key Considerations When Using AI
While AI is powerful, it is not flawless. Important considerations include:
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Hallucinations (incorrect or misleading outputs)
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Data privacy risks
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Model security and manipulation
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Lack of transparency and bias
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Potential impact during penetration testing
Always validate AI-generated results before acting on them.
🛠️ Practical Showcase
In this hands-on showcase, Van SolveIT is used across three cyber security domains:
🔴 Red Team
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Generate and execute an exploit script
🔵 Blue Team
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Analyse web traffic logs from an attack
⚙️ Software Security
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Review vulnerable source code
Access the AI assistant here:
🏁 Results
✔ Final Showcase Flag:
THM{AI_MANIA}
✔ Exploit Execution Flag:
THM{SQLI_EXPLOIT}
✔ No flag required for the final note
🎄 Final Thoughts
This showcase demonstrates how AI can significantly enhance cyber security operations across multiple roles. When used responsibly, AI increases efficiency, reduces workload, and improves decision-making.
However, AI should be treated as an assistant—not an authority. Human expertise, validation, and judgment remain critical to maintaining strong cyber defenses.
If you enjoyed this challenge, explore the Defending Adversarial Attacks room to learn how attackers target AI systems—and how to protect them.
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