Small Galway firms warned of big AI cybercrime threat

Galway's smallest businesses are being warned that artificial intelligence is making it easier for cybercriminals to target multiple companies at once.

Dr Mamoona Asghar, Associate Professor in Computer Science at the University of Galway, said AI agents could identify security weaknesses with far less effort, putting firms without adequate safeguards at risk.

“Previously they took a lot of manual work to attack one company,” she said.

“So now they can attack multiple companies at a time, not just one company.”

Dr Asghar, whose research covers cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and digital trust, said some small Irish businesses believed they were too insignificant to attract criminals.

“I meet companies that are very small, like one or two employees, and they are just start-ups, maybe spin-outs. They say that we are very small, so maybe criminals may not attack us,” she said.

“They are not working properly on their cybersecurity controls to protect their data, to protect their credentials.”

CyberSentriq, an international cybersecurity company with an office in Salthill, launched its SentriqAI platform on October 8.

Formed in 2025 through the combination of Galway cybersecurity company TitanHQ and cloud backup specialist Redstor, CyberSentriq is targeting smaller businesses without dedicated security teams.

Its technology is designed to protect against email attacks while providing backup and recovery of Microsoft 365 data.

Chief executive Myles Bray warned that AI was changing the scale and sophistication of cybercrime.

“While the threat has moved on, the security gap hasn't. Large enterprises have the teams, technology and budgets to respond. Most SMBs don't, and that's the imbalance we are addressing,” he said in the company's launch announcement.

The same technology helping cybercriminals operate at greater speed is also finding its way into everyday business operations in Galway.

For one local cleaning company, the appeal is simple: less time spent sending invoices and chasing payments.

The business is working with AI developer Harvey Kubath, founder of Agentic Builds, on a system to automate much of that work.

Kubath is developing an AI agent that will connect to the company's QuickBooks accounting software, allowing the owner to manage invoices through Telegram.

“He can ask it to create and send invoices, tell him what invoices are outstanding, and then, with his permission, chase up these invoices,” Kubath explained.

Unlike a chatbot that simply answers questions, an AI agent can use tools to carry out tasks on a user's behalf. But access to company accounts and sensitive information also raises security questions.

Dr Asghar explained that an agent could try different approaches to complete a task, adapting when something failed. She said strong safeguards and continuous monitoring were essential.

Kubath said AI automations should be thoroughly tested and restricted to their intended tasks.

“Businesses have very little to worry about if they use these gated, secure models while enforcing strict permissions so that the agent can only execute the specific task it was built for,” he said.

For Galway businesses concerned about cybercrime, Dr Asghar said the most effective precautions remained straightforward.

She urged companies to keep software updated, use multi-factor authentication and verify requests involving money transfers or changes to bank account details.

She also warned against workplace cultures where employees felt unable to question urgent instructions apparently coming from a senior colleague.

“Create a culture where employees feel comfortable pausing and questioning an urgent request, even when it appears to come from the boss,” she said.

Above all, she urged smaller firms not to assume they were beneath the attention of cybercriminals.

“They shouldn’t think that we are so small and attackers cannot attack us,” she said.