GenAI in the Cyber Kill Chain: A Comprehensive Review of Risks, Threat Operative Strategies and Adaptive Defense Approaches

Generative artificial intelligence (GAI) has become an effective instrument capable of creating realistic content on its own in a variety of fields. GAI's growing adoption raises concerns about potential misuse for cyber threats, such as creating, convincing, phishing emails, producing deep fake videos and distributing false information through posts that appear to be genuine on social media. This is accurate even though its potential uses in data synthesis, virtual assistants, content development and the creative arts are exciting. These difficulties appeal for a careful analysis of GAI's place in cybersecurity (CS). This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of the possible threats connected to the offensive GAI technique used in the Cyber Kill Chain (CKC) framework. In addition, our proposal includes defense tactics that leverage GAI capabilities. These strategies include the areas of detection, deception and adversarial training, with the aim of reducing the potential risks associated with cyber threats induced by GAI. Threat actors employ the use of GAI to augment Evasion, obfuscation and deception techniques, hence increasing the effectiveness and difficulty of detecting their attacks. This study highlights the importance of using proactive defense measures. The dual capability of GAI for legal and illegal usage highlights the need to comprehend and mitigate its influence inside the CKC framework. To combat the evolving gamut of GAI-induced cyber threats, organizations should employ attack-aware and adaptable GAI-enabled defense strategies.