Three Reasons to Consider Adopting AI Cyber ​​Security Tools

Cybersecurity threats are growing at a mind-boggling pace. However, hesitating to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into human-based processes is hampering organizations and their cybersecurity. This is because malicious people are using AI as a weapon in cyber attacks.

AI creates insights from vast amounts of data that enable organizations to make real-time decisions that cannot be achieved by human effort alone. As a result, AI enhances organizations’ ability to prevent and mitigate cyberattacks before people detect them.

AI is not a silver bullet, but when combined with cyber security best practices, it helps detect, prevent, and respond to cyber attacks, enabling faster and more accurate security decisions. Don’t be afraid of new technologies to prevent your organization from leveraging the benefits of AI in cybersecurity.

The strengths of AI cybersecurity far outweigh the weaknesses

Many organizations can be reluctant to adopt AI and automation. This is understandable, but it’s going in the wrong direction. AI prevents and minimizes security vulnerabilities, helps you achieve compliance, and secures your software. As with any tool, there are challenges related to implementing new AI. However, the better the understanding of these challenges, the easier it will be to accept them.

For example, the most effective AI can be costly to implement because it requires a large dataset to learn and improve decision making. However, the savings associated with increased efficiency and automation can compensate for the initial cost. Careful monitoring of AI output can mitigate many other potential risks, such as the introduction of unintended human prejudice into AI models.

Despite these challenges (which can be mitigated), the application of AI in cybersecurity remains important. So while organizations need to be aware of potential pitfalls, they also need to know that their strengths far outweigh their weaknesses. To mitigate ongoing cyberattacks and better protect the environment, businesses need good cyber hygiene in combination with AI.

Three Ways AI Can Improve Cyber ​​Security Attitude

Some organizations use AI to detect attacks, but hesitate to use AI as a proactive or responsive strategy. But now is not the time to be reluctant. As cyberattacks increase and global events create new cyber threats every day, AI and automation are key to achieving organizational agility, operational efficiency, and faster response times.

Here are some ways you can use AI to reduce human error and improve your cybersecurity stance.

1. Automate repetitive tasks

Because cybersecurity and IT teams focus on day-to-day efforts, it is difficult to constantly monitor threats. AI threat monitoring can be used in combination with other automation tools to offload human employees and free up resources to focus on high-priority tasks. Automation can block suspicious traffic or encrypt and quarantine certain types of files according to defined criteria. Machine learning algorithms, on the other hand, have full visibility and can make more complex decisions on behalf of the user.

2. Identify potential vulnerabilities

AI Use cases include continuous monitoring, behavioral analytics, malware protection, malicious bot protection, and attack surface analysis. All of these are important features in the fight against cyber attacks.

Attack surface analysis, for example, is an analysis of systems and processes to uncover weaknesses. This allows businesses to analyze the entire attack surface in the same way as an attacker. Using this approach, you can proactively identify a vulnerability and determine what would happen if the vulnerability were exploited. For example, potential data breache risk or opportunity to execute malicious code. These insights can fix vulnerabilities and better protect your environment.

3. Optimize cyber security best practices

To get the most out of your AI applications, you need to practice regular cyber hygiene. Best practices such as identity and access control, vulnerability management, secure coding, cyber threat hunting, and ongoing user education can help keep your organization’s cyber security structure strong.

AI isn’t a versatile solution to cybersecurity, but it allows security teams to be more effective. AI still needs to be monitored, but the benefits, innovation, accuracy, and speed of AI are essential to detecting and mitigating cyber threats.

AI is an important resource for long lines of defense

The biggest barrier for many organizations in their cybersecurity efforts is fear of implementing AI. However, this fear and resistance can easily be overcome if the company understands the positive attributes that AI must provide.

AI does not replace good security hygiene. Instead, think of it as a cybersecurity quiver arrow. This is another important resource in the long line of cyber defense. AI, when enhanced by cybersecurity best practices, can greatly help reduce security vulnerabilities and respond to threats.

Caleb Merriman is Deltek’s CISO..