AI in Cybersecurity

AI in cybersecurity has proven to be a valuable asset for enterprises in a now digital-first business landscape. With an attack surface that is permeable to millions of potential risks, many companies have found that they can no longer handle these threats on a human scale. Instead, artificial intelligence and machine learning have become critical in the security of information and data that businesses need to survive. So what is AI security, how does it work, and in what ways can companies utilize this asset to ensure that their operation is secure? Let’s take a deeper look.

What Is AI Security?

At its core, AI in cybersecurity aims to provide security solutions that identify safe and malicious behaviors across various platforms of an enterprise. As mentioned, it eliminates the need for human supervision and utilizes a process referred to as “unsupervised learning.” AI security provides tools that have the capability to analyze and compute large data sets in order to develop activity patterns. These patterns are then able to indicate potential malicious behavior while also providing further solutions when risks arrive. Some examples of AI in cybersecurity include:

• Automation
• Aggregating and sorting alerts
• Triaging
• Contextualizing information and behaviors
• Offering remediation strategies for vulnerabilities and threats

What further highlights the benefits of AI security is the fact that it is both dynamic and iterative. Meaning, these “deep learning” programs get smarter as they analyze more data; they learn from experience to become more compatible and autonomous the more they are used. The uses of AI in cybersecurity can be vastly different for each company, but the dynamic nature of these programs presents viable solutions in situations such as:

• Reinforcing Gaps – Although the digital transformation of the workforce is happening rapidly, there is a shortage of trained cybersecurity professionals who are experienced in the ever-changing facets of this norm. AI security closes gaps made by unfilled security positions and reduces the time needed to identify threats. This means less downtime, less chance of human error, and the ability to denote repetitive and simple tasks to automation.

• Measuring Inventory – AI security programs are able to fully measure the entire inventory of applications, devices, and users that have access to information systems. This helps in the categorization, organization, and measurement of business criticality. It also helps businesses identify and understand how assets are distributed across locations, as well as which assets are doing so.

• Identifying and Predicting Threats – 60% of organizations stated that they would be unable to identify threats without the use of artificial intelligence. This is largely due to the fact that identifying and investigating threats takes a significant amount of time. Triaging events and threats at a more rapid and reliable rate, in turn, cuts downtime needed for incident response.

• Countering Threat Escalation – Threat actors have greatly increased their sophistication in recent years, meaning they are utilizing techniques that are harder to spot and even harder to de-escalate. When businesses utilize incident response measures offered by AI in cybersecurity, they are provided with the technology needed to stay at the same pace, or even to outpace, these developing methods.

• Explaining Analysis – Infosec teams can greatly benefit from having recommendations and analysis of malicious behavior explained in algorithmic detail. This way, stakeholders, end users, security operations, CEOs, and other important members of an enterprise can disseminate this information in a way that allows everyone to be on board at all times.

What to Look For in AI Cybersecurity Companies

It is unlikely that any two AI cybersecurity companies will offer the same exact solutions needed for your enterprise. Every business operates differently, so it’s crucial that stakeholders are aware of what they need and what is offered before selecting a vendor. These reflective questions are a great place to begin:

1. What type of machine learning processes and algorithms does your platform utilize, and how many different processes are used?
2. How does your product prioritize threats that require immediate action?
3. Can your product seamlessly integrate into an already established workflow?
4. What kind of efficiency increase is offered by your platform or software?
5. How long will it take for your product to start identifying threats once it is up and running?
6. Does your product offer more advanced tools for data analytics, and will employees need to be trained in order to utilize this information?
7. What endpoint security measures does your product use to block or contain detected threats?
8. Is your platform capable of providing long-term protection, or will it need to be either upgraded, reworked, or tinkered with as processes change?

Ready to Integrate AI Security Into Your Enterprise?

Computer Resources of America specializes in providing your business with comprehensive IT support when and where you need it. Along with our comprehensive IT consulting solutions, we provide detailed AI security options to keep your company safe from potential threats. For more information regarding our services, contact us today.