Outsmarting hackers with AI

But back in the cybersecurity operations room, the ML algorithms had identified an authorised administrator logging in from a foreign country. This was not unusual but when checks indicated the administrator was not on vacation, an alert was raised. An immediate lock-out was initiated, followed by measures to uncover and address what the hacker had perpetrated.

The above scenario is the new reality of artificially-intelligent, self-learning cybersecurity systems enterprises are embracing as they embark on their digital transformation journeys.  With advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, detecting and thwarting cyber attacks promises greater security than what is achievable with human intervention alone.

Hackers have also started to use AI and ML tools to bypass security systems, unleashing large volumes of random data at these intelligent systems to fool them. Using malicious data to trick AI systems into identifying specific malware behaviour and taking action, hackers are creating biases within the systems to exploit later. 

AI is the branch of computer sciences that emphasises the development of intelligence machines, thinking and working with human-like capabilities such as speech recognition, problem-solving, learning, and planning. The learning and planning facets of AI can now tap on data analytics to turn artificial intelligence into natural intelligence. That is, an AI system with ML capabilities can boost its pre-programmed intelligence to create new behavioural responses to unfamiliar situations.

When used in a cybersecurity surveillance system, AI and ML can continuously monitor countless system parameters and define normal operational baseline behaviour. Any anomaly would upset the normal baseline parameters and trigger an alert. Even in situations where an unknown threat signature has been detected, an AI system is able to read beyond the threat signature, and discern on its own accord that a harmful pattern is emerging, pointing to an imminent attack.

By tapping on Platform-as-a-Service or Software-as-a-Service in their cloud-led digital transformation efforts, many enterprises have already started to benefit from AI as a powerful weapon against the cyber attacks. Such cloud solutions employ AI and ML to detect threats, identifying them quickly, and combat them with minimal human intervention.

AI also helps in categorising each cyber attack according to the harm it can cause to the company. Using the data, the damage (if any) and recovery solutions can be resolved and detected within a fraction of time needed by manually-managed systems of the past. Also, such automated processes help cyber analysts to predict and patch up existing and emergent invasion and intrusion pathways.

Learn more about the AI and ML capabilities that will keep your organisation safe.