Strengthening Organisational Defence: A Governance Framework Against AI-Driven Cyber Threats

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping both economic activity and organisational operations, but its misuse has helped to amplify the scale and sophistication of cybercrime.Criminal actors increasingly employ AI to automate attacks, craft convincing social engineering campaigns, and exploit system vulnerabilities, creating risks that many existing cybersecurity frameworks are not designed to address.This research investigates how AI enables such malicious activities by identifying and categorizing the key criminal elements associated with AI-driven threats.The study used a qualitative design combining a structured literature review with semi-structured expert interviews to ensure methodological rigor and practical relevance.Using the findings from these methods, a governance-oriented framework for strengthening organizational defence has been developed.The framework presents clear, actionable measures that help organisations evaluate vulnerabilities, improve preparedness, and establish governance mechanisms suited to AI-related risk.Expert validation hast demonstrated its practical relevance for cybersecurity teams, Information Technology (IT) managers, and risk officers.By offering structured guidance tailored to medium-and large-sized organisations, these results contribute to ongoing policy discussions by offering a systematic, practice-aligned approach to strengthening organisational defence against emerging AI-enabled threats.