AI Cyber Security: Silver Bullet Or Another Potential Vulnerability?

Protecting your data from the constantly evolving threat of malware, ransomware, and other sophisticated types of cyber attacks is harder than ever before. Can AI cyber security become a long-awaited solution? Let’s clear things up.

Is placing all of your faith in artificial intelligence a true cyber security silver bullet, or a risk likely to cause more headaches than it’s worth?

According to the World Economic Forum’s 2017 Global Risks Report, cyber attacks are the sixth most likely risk faced by societies and enterprises globally, ranked just below natural disasters and terrorist attacks. To help combat fraud, theft, and other cyber attacks, CIOs are increasingly relying on AI cyber security solutions. So, will AI make or break your security?

Stay ahead of the game

Traditionally, keeping up on cybersecurity has relied on a patchwork of software updates, anti-virus options, and firewall protection — not to mention the man-hours spent maintaining these systems. And even with the best precautions in place, in the event of a cyber attack, it’s usually too late to go back and see where it all went wrong. Wouldn’t it be nice to have your system warn you about an impending attack before it even happens?

With artificial intelligence, that has become possible. By using machine learning to help recognize patterns and visualize data, AI-based cyber security can help predict and prevent things you never thought could happen.

Get smarter

Even if you’re regularly monitoring your data and applying the latest security patches, it’s impossible to know where the next threat is coming from. That’s where the beauty of AI comes in: the longer it’s in place, the better it works. Artificial intelligence gets smarter over time as it analyzes your data and can help identify threats both imminent and distant — as well as your blind spots.

By taking proactive measures to weed out bad actors or suspicious activity over time, AI learns the ins and outs of your system and can quickly discern the difference between an odd blip on the radar or a legitimate intrusion.

While AI cyber security software can help you stay proactive against evolving threats, that doesn’t mean it should be your only solution. The true potential failure of AI is relying solely on it for all of your security needs. Those looking to protect their networks should consider AI cyber security an important and crucial part of their defences — but not their only one.

Considering to adopt AI to strengthen your security? Here’s a whitepaper to help you better understand how AI can benefit your organisation. And we’ll be happy to answer your questions. Get in touch!

Originally published at eleks.com on March 15, 2018.