AI in cyber security

When one thinks of artificial intelligence, it’s easy to conjure up images and scenes from our favourite Hollywood rendition of AI. Although performances by Arnie and Joaquin Phoenix were outstanding, the truth about AI is far scarier.

We’re already seeing attempts by cyber criminals to use aspects of AI for nefarious purposes – purposes that may be nearer to you and me, and the businesses that support so many livelihoods, than we thought.

AI in cyber security is a game-changer for both the potential victims and the perpetrators. The ever-evolving threats and increasingly sophisticated attacks are finding ways to bypass conventional security systems, making programmed security measures fall short. To say these attacks are forms of AI would be misleading, but they have the salient traits of AI. Be that as it may, the trajectory towards AI by syndicates is quite obvious and alarming. Companies need to make every effort and take every precaution to safeguard their systems against these attacks. CTOs have to stay ahead of the curve by utilising cyber security solutions that learn on the fly. Artificial intelligence does that, expertly.

By consuming billions of data points and artefacts from both structured and unstructured sources, AI systems learn to recognise security risks, vulnerabilities and threats. The AI increases its knowledge base and is able to recognise the relationship between insights from disparate sources. The analysis and report take mere seconds, giving the often strained cyber security team sufficient time to respond appropriately.

AI not only detects threats and attacks, but can predict the location, type and appropriate response to future threats. Cyber security vendors are training AI to seek and destroy possible cyber intrusions through the use of sophisticated algorithms. These algorithms utilise cross-referencing, pattern recognition across billions of multimedia sources (research papers, blogs, news, studies and articles) to spot the where, what and how of probable threats.

This predictive function not only surpasses the speed of conventional systems, but is able to recognise even the minutest behaviours or changes and isolate these before they enter your system. We unleash the real value of AI in cyber security by this combination of pattern recognition, natural language learning processing and its unparalleled proficiency.

Conventional cyber security systems cannot keep up with the pace of the evolving digital landscape. Recognising this, cyber security companies have shifted towards software-defined and deep-learning systems to augment human intervention.

Combining cyber security talent and AI-enabled technology results in 20x more effective attack surface coverage than traditional methods; using AI accelerates by 73% the time to evaluate the breach-worthiness of a vulnerability; by augmenting humans with AI, companies are able to find and close critical vulnerabilities 40% faster, reducing the vulnerability risk window; organisations that have utilised an augmented approach to security testing for two or more years are up to 200% stronger against cyber attacks than they were in their first year [Synack report based on data from hundreds of thousands of hours of security tests].

AI in cyber security is a distinct and emerging technology. It is vital that those looking to implement an AI-driven cyber security system do so with a partner that can assist them to navigate this complex landscape. This is the purpose of the channel. Axiz has invested in security professionals and developed the competence to continually avail future-facing technologies to the market.

Our cyber security team provides industry and vendor-specific understanding of next-generation technologies that will provide your organisation with a well-considered roadmap to transform your business to a managed security service provider (MSSP).