BSSN says AI trend is reshaping cyber attack landscape in the financial sector

The National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN) has said that the development of artificial intelligence (AI) has changed the landscape of cyber attacks on the financial sector.

BSSN Director of Cyber and Crypto Security for Finance, Trade and Tourism Edit Prima said AI is changing the entire cyber attack cycle, making it more automated, adaptive and effective.

“So with the help of AI, fraud is very easy, very personal, very convincing, almost free of grammatical errors and difficult to distinguish from the original version,” Edit said at the Indonesian Cyber Security Summit 2026 in Jakarta on Thursday.

According to Edit, the use of AI in cyber attacks is dangerous for the financial sector for several reasons.

First, AI allows attackers to target thousands of targets simultaneously. AI is able to analyse data to create attacks that are more targeted and relevant.

Second, AI accelerates every stage of an attack, from reconnaissance to exploitation. AI can adapt and evade traditional security systems.

Third, the availability of various AI tools means sophisticated cyber attacks can be carried out by anyone.

“AI has created what we call the democratisation of technology. So anyone can carry out an attack, not necessarily someone with adequate technical skills. Simply with the help of tools, the services can already be obtained at quite a cheap price,” he explained.

Edit explained that if AI-based cyber attacks become increasingly frequent, the financial sector will face various impacts, ranging from increased financial losses, loss of customer trust, operational disruption, to a decline in banking reputation.

Therefore, BSSN is working to strengthen cyber resilience in the financial sector through a number of strategies, one of which is increasing collaboration with institutions in the financial sector, such as the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and Bank Indonesia (BI).

BSSN has also established a Cyber Incident Response Team (TTIS) and is encouraging every organisation to have a similar dedicated team.

TTIS is a team tasked with carrying out early detection, rapid response and mitigation of cyber incidents. The team serves as BSSN’s extension in the field and acts as a first responder before an incident develops further.

“For more technical collaboration, we encourage every organisation in the financial industry to have orderly and structured incident handling governance,” said Edit.

BSSN also urges every organisation in the financial industry to be required to have, establish and operate a TTIS, as well as register the team with BSSN.

“Essentially, we hope to encourage, and it is even already regulated, that every organisation is required to have, establish and operate a cyber incident response team. Not only that, but also to register it with BSSN,” he said.