Cyberattacks are unwanted attempts to steal, reveal, disable, or destroy information by gaining unauthorized access to computer systems. With the growing technology, these attacks are also evolving, making them more complex for detection. These attacks are a major concern for organizations, and they resort to cybersecurity for thwarting these attacks.
However, depending on the size of your business, up to several hundred billion time-varying signals must be analyzed in order to accurately calculate risk. As a result, analyzing and enhancing cybersecurity aspects is no longer a human-scale issue. Thanks to technological developments in AI, these risks can be decreased to a great extent.
AI and machine learning (ML) technologies are playing a vital role in information security because they can rapidly analyze millions of events and recognize a wide range of threats such as malware exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities, diagnosing risky behavior that could lead to phishing attacks or malicious code download. These technologies learn eventually, using historical data to identify new types of attacks.
Several organizations are now implementing AI security solutions and technologies to warn them of potential threats and data breaches. With more extensive and simplified solutions, demand for AI-based solutions has skyrocketed.
Artificial intelligence vs. Machine learning
- Artificial intelligence is a computer system’s ability to simulate human cognitive functions such as learning and problem-solving.
- A computer system using AI uses math and logic to mimic the reasoning that humans use to learn from new information and make decisions.
- AI systems are iterative and dynamic. They become smarter as they analyze more data, they “learn” from experience, and they become more capable and autonomous as they progress.
- Machine learning is an AI application. It is the process of using mathematical data models to assist a computer in learning without direct instruction.
- This allows a computer system to learn and improve on its own, based on past experience.
- Machine learning works best when it is directed at a specific task rather than a broad mission.
Role of AI & ML in Cybersecurity
AI is involved in almost all aspects of business and let’s take a look at how AI & ML helps us in cybersecurity.
- Detection of threats and anomalies
AI-powered cybersecurity systems can provide the latest insights regarding the worldwide and industry-specific threats which can be useful to make vital decisions based not only on the cause that might be used to attack the organization but also on what probably will be used to attack the organization.
- Prediction of Breach Risk
Accounting for IT asset inventory, threat exposure, and control effectiveness, AI-powered systems can predict how and where you will be breached, allowing you to allocate resources and tools to areas of weakness. AI-derived prescriptive insights can assist you in configuring and improving controls and processes to most effectively improve your organization’s cyber resilience.
- Bot alleviation
Bots though helpful can be risky too sometimes. Hackers have been known to program bots to take over accounts and create bogus accounts. AI systems can be trained to distinguish between malicious and benign bots.
- Incident Response
AI-powered systems can offer enhanced context for prioritization and response to security alerts, for quick incident response, and for surfacing root causes to alleviate vulnerabilities and avert future issues.
Conclusion
In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a necessary technology for supplementing the efforts of human information security teams. AI is a valuable asset in the fight against cybercriminals because it improves cyber analysts’ efficiency by allowing them to focus on the threats that matter. Because AI learns from past patterns, it can greatly reduce the time required to identify threats and quickly resolve them. Hence AI is no longer an option; it must be investigated as a good competitive weapon against emerging and complex threats.
