Artificial intelligence and machine learning have the ability to automate and increase the speed of detecting and responding to cyber threats. The technologies can enhance security tools and give them the ability to quickly identify and prevent a large percentage of potential cyber attacks. The AI-based tools provide better protection than software driven approaches while easing the workload on the security staff.
Although traditional security technology is still effective, it requires manual interventions, and this may delay the response when there is a new type of attack.
The AI and ML technologies do not replace the existing security tools, but rather enhance them by adding the automatic detection of anomalies, unusual activities, or manipulated code. This allows the security systems to visualize the traffic and data, get insights, and take preventive measures in the effect of a potential threat, in the shortest time possible.
With sufficient training, the systems can identify and predict patterns in internet traffic and data. This enables the security companies to use the AI to identify anomalies that can potentially result in cyber-attacks.
Generally, the security experts have to go through tons of logs looking for potential threats. This takes quite some time, but AI can simplify the processes while providing a faster and more efficient analysis and response.
Benefits of AI in cybersecurity
AI and ML can provide insights that humans or traditional tools are incapable of achieving. The emerging technologies enable existing security solutions to identify anomalies within a very short time before they propagate through a system. This improves the effectiveness of protection systems. In addition, the AI has the potential to identify patterns that may lead to an attack, which traditional security software is likely to miss.
Generally, a cybersecurity analyst will probably go through several log files and come across over 10 high-risk incidences in any given day. Most of these may be non-malicious while the others are actual threats that require more research and prompt resolution. The manual analysis is tedious and will take several hours, such that it takes longer to positively identify and eliminate the threat.
On the other hand, cybersecurity analysts can delegate the time-consuming tasks of looking for threats to the AI and ML technologies. This allows for faster analysis of large volumes of data at speeds that human beings cannot achieve. It also helps in providing instant insights, hence avoiding having to go through thousands of alerts and reducing the response time.