EU's Top Official Says AI Will Make Hacking Far More Dangerous

Key points

• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that advanced AI could enable cyberattacks at a scale the world has not previously seen.
• Von der Leyen linked AI-powered hacking to a broader set of digital threats Europe is now trying to regulate.
• The EU is preparing new protections targeting how social media platforms are built to keep children engaged online.
• No specific attack or firm legislative timeline was cited in von der Leyen's remarks, as reported by SecurityWeek.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission (the EU's executive body that proposes laws and enforces rules across 27 member states), has put AI-driven cyberattacks at the top of her public worry list. Her argument, stripped down: the same AI tools that help doctors spot cancer can also help criminals write malicious code faster, at lower cost, with far less skill required.

That last part is what keeps security people up at night.

Why does AI make hacking more dangerous for ordinary people?

Right now, pulling off a sophisticated cyberattack takes real expertise. AI chips away at that barrier. A criminal who could previously only send crude scam emails could, with the right tools, generate convincing fake messages, probe a company's systems automatically, and adapt when defences push back.

The failure mode here is scale. One skilled attacker is manageable. A thousand unskilled attackers with AI doing the hard work is a different problem entirely.

Von der Leyen stopped short of citing a specific incident or a particular AI system. The warning is about trajectory rather than any single event, which is both fair and a little convenient for a politician looking for a platform.

What is the EU actually doing about social media and children?

Europe is moving toward new rules to counter what von der Leyen called the "capture" of children by social media, meaning the way platforms are deliberately engineered to keep young users scrolling as long as possible. New Zealand is already further along: legislation due last week would require major apps to verify user ages, with a regulator empowered to fine or block services that refuse.

The EU already has the Digital Services Act, a sweeping law forcing large online platforms to assess and reduce the harm their products cause. Von der Leyen's new push appears to go further, though she offered no specific draft measures in her public comments.

Parents and schools have said for years that existing rules aren't moving fast enough. Brussels knows it. Whether new legislation closes the gap or just adds paperwork is the real question. Europe's largest-ever GDPR fine landed on Uber after the Dutch regulator found automated systems suspending drivers with no human review, and enforcement lag was the story there too.

The post-mortem on the EU's digital policy era will note one consistent weak point: the gap between announcing a rule and enforcing it.

If your children use social media apps, the practical step is still the same one it's been for years. Check what your device's built-in screen-time controls can do. Turn on age-restriction settings on individual platforms rather than waiting for regulators to force the companies' hands.

Policy speeches move slower than the threats they describe. Your own settings matter more than any law that isn't in force yet.