In order to keep up with increasingly advanced technology, cyber criminals and scams are getting more and more sophisticated – so much so, that it’s unlikely any systems can ever be considered to be 100% secure.
Is artificial intelligence (AI) key to the future of cyber security?
What is AI?
Is AI essential to the future of cyber security?
Cyber attacks are now so common, so varied and so relentless, more than two-thirds of business owners believe that they won’t be able to respond to threats without the help of AI.
A new report from the Capgemini Research Institute, found that 69% of respondents believe they’ll never be able to provide enough human resource, it terms of both time and budget, to effectively deal with the day-to-day threats of cyber attacks.
Geert van der Linden, Cybersecurity Business Lead at Capgemini Group, said: “Organizations are facing an unparalleled volume and complexity of cyber threats and have woken up to the importance of AI as the first line of defence.”
He added: “As cyber security analysts are overwhelmed, close to a quarter of them declaring they are not able to successfully investigate all identified incidents, it is critical for organizations to increase investment and focus on the business benefits that AI can bring in terms of bolstering their cyber security.”
The use of AI in cyber security is already on the rise – one-in-five organsations already use AI as part of their cyber security measures – but is expected to really explode over the next few years, with two-in-three planning to employ it by 2020.
How can AI help with cyber security?
Cyber attacks are significantly on the rise – a report from Beaming, UK-based ISP, found that the number of attacks aimed at British businesses during the second quarter of 2019 increased by 179% year-on-year. This equates to firms effectively facing a threat every 50 seconds on average over the three-month period.
AI can help with cyber security in a number of ways:
- Improve the accuracy and efficiency of cyber analysts
- Lower the cost of detecting and responding to breaches
- Enables quicker response time.
How to implement AI for cyber security
Here is a six-step plan to implementing AI for cyber security at your business:
- Identify data sources and create AI platform – You’ll need a consolidated view of all your data to create a platform for your AI solution.
- Identify the greatest threats – You then need to work out the most likely ways in which your business will be attacked. The five biggest threats identified in the Capgemini study were:
- malware detection
- Intrusion detection
- Scoring risk in the network for operational technology (OT)
- Fraud detection for information technology (IT)
- User/machine behavioral analysis for the internet of things (IoT)
- Gather intelligence through collaboration – Collaborate with other businesses in your industry to gather information on threats and ensure everything is up to speed at your end. This collaboration is also vital for the effectiveness of AI algorithms.
- SOAR your security management – SOAR – security, orchestration, automation, and response – helps ensure AI provides a rapid and effective response to any threats.
- Train your team in AI – In order to make sure you’re making the most of AI, your cyber analysts need to be kept informed of the key processes used by your AI.
- Regularly review your procedures – You need to regularly review your procedures to make sure the are as efficient and as effective as possible at identifying and eliminating cyber threats.
