Impact of AI on the Cyber Kill Chain: A Systematic Review

The Cyber Kill Chain (CKC) defense model aims to assist subject matter experts in planning, identifying, and executing against cyber intrusion activity, by outlining seven stages required for adversaries to execute an attack. Recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have empowered adversaries to execute sophisticated attacks to exploit system vulnerabilities. As a result, it is essential to consider how AI-based tools change the cyber threat landscape and affect the current standard CKC model. Thus, this study examines and categorizes how attackers use AI-based tools, and offers potential defense mechanisms. We conducted a systematic literature review of 62 papers published between 2013 and 2023 from the Web of Science and Google Scholar databases. Our findings indicate that AI-based tools are used most effectively in the initial stages of cyberattacks. However, we find that current defense tools are not designed to counter these sophisticated attacks during these stages. Thus, we provide insights to 1) highlight the changing threat landscape due to AI and 2) to guide the development of cyber defense mechanisms.