Cybersecurity, the Future, and AI

Author: Andrey Ogurchikov

To successfully counter cyberattacks, companies are forced to implement the latest technologies, including cloud solutions. The cloud provides the necessary resources, allowing AI to quickly solve emerging challenges. Since Cloud4Y is actively engaged in client data security, we decided to discuss a particularly interesting area of cyber defense: protection using artificial intelligence.

The Role of AI in Cybersecurity

AI is used in many areas of human activity. Machine intelligence is a convenient, fast, and often more cost-effective tool compared to humans. It has found its place in cybersecurity as well. Many companies use AI to provide more reliable protection for their databases, offloading analytics departments by automating routine tasks.

The demand for AI technologies in cybersecurity is real. A recent report by consulting firm Capgemini provides some interesting statistics. According to the report, 61% of companies believe it is impossible to detect all unauthorized attempts to access systems and steal confidential information without using AI technologies. Additionally, 48% said their budgets for AI in cybersecurity would increase by about 29% in 2020.

The situation is further highlighted by Cisco’s statement that in 2018, they managed to repel 7 trillion (!) attempts to compromise their clients’ data. On average, Asia-Pacific companies experience six cyberattacks every minute—an incredible number!

It’s a mistake to think this problem is only relevant to the US and won’t affect Russia or other countries. While working on the report, Capgemini surveyed 850 executives from seven industries, including consumer goods, retail, banking, insurance, automotive, utilities, and telecommunications. Of the respondents, 20% were IT directors and 10% were CISOs (Chief Information Security Officers).

The surveyed companies were headquartered in France, Germany, the UK, the US, Australia, the Netherlands, India, Italy, Spain, and Sweden. All confirmed an increase in cyberattacks and a growing need for new protection technologies, including artificial intelligence. In other words, the problem is global and not limited to any specific region.

Who Is at Risk?

Everyone. Statistics show that as digital business grows, the risk of cyberattacks increases exponentially. 21% of respondents said their organization experienced a cybersecurity breach in 2018 that led to unauthorized access.

Companies pay a high price for cybersecurity breaches: 20% report losses exceeding $50 million. A recent Centrify study found that 74% of all breaches are related to access to privileged accounts. Attackers specifically target accounts with maximum privileges to filter valuable information from corporate systems and sell it for profit.

Large businesses are the most attractive targets, but their IT departments are usually stronger and most vulnerabilities are closed, making it harder for attackers to succeed. The situation is different for medium and small businesses, where in-house specialists often lack expertise, leaving not just loopholes but wide-open doors for attackers of all kinds.

Why Does This Happen?

56% of top executives admit their cybersecurity analysts are overloaded, and nearly a quarter (23%) are unable to successfully investigate all detected incidents. Capgemini found that hacker groups still effectively use algorithms to send phishing messages to targeted users to obtain confidential information.

In many cases, the massive efforts of IT security departments are undermined by simple human curiosity, inattention, and excessive workload. Social engineering is effective, and to stop attackers, it’s necessary to prevent such messages from reaching end users. AI is fully capable of acting as a filter.

The advantage of AI is its ability to work faster than humans and continuously evolve. With the introduction of GDPR and other regulations requiring the protection of various types of data, the need for more reliable security systems has become even more critical.

Current State of AI in Cybersecurity

• 80% of telecommunications companies say they rely on AI to detect threats and prevent cyberattacks.
• 73% of companies are testing AI applications in cybersecurity, with a particular focus on endpoint security. This is especially important considering the number of endpoint devices (including IoT) is expected to reach 24 billion by 2021.
• 51% of executives are already using or working on implementing AI for early detection of cyber threats. Machine intelligence can significantly outperform traditional prediction and response systems.

As companies actively explore the implementation and use of AI as part of their cybersecurity measures, the quality of threat prediction and response speed will continue to improve.

Nearly two-thirds of executives acknowledge that AI reduces the cost of detecting and responding to threats (savings range from 1% to 15%, averaging 12%). Thanks to AI, the total time required to detect threats and breaches is reduced by up to 12%. The dwell time (the period during which an attacker remains undetected) decreases by 11%. This time reduction is achieved through constant scanning for known or unknown anomalies that indicate threat patterns.

There are real-world examples. PetSmart, a popular US pet supply retailer, saved $12 million by using AI to detect fraud. In partnership with Kount, PetSmart implemented AI/Deep Learning technology that analyzes millions of transactions and their outcomes. The smart system determines the legitimacy of each transaction by comparing it to all other transactions. Fraudulent orders are canceled, saving the company money without harming the brand.

Why AI Is the Future of Cybersecurity

Fraud detection, malware detection, intrusion detection, network risk assessment, and user/machine behavior analysis are the top five ways AI is being used to improve cybersecurity.

AI is truly changing the traditional aspects of cybersecurity. It enhances companies’ ability to anticipate and prevent cybercrimes, protects zero-trust devices, and can even monitor password expiration! In short, artificial intelligence is essential for securing the perimeter of any business.

Finding connections between threats and analyzing malicious files, suspicious IP addresses, or unusual employee activity now takes just seconds or minutes. AI is already helping humans ensure cybersecurity, and its capabilities will only expand, making human involvement in protection increasingly nominal.

Take banks, for example—thanks to AI, anti-fraud systems will work more reliably and quickly, saving both clients and bankers time and money. According to Dell, a company that develops such products, AI can protect, control, and monitor data in hybrid environments and prevent 99% of malware attacks.

Interestingly, AI can be made cloud-based. This allows it to automatically scale during sudden spikes in demand (for example, if hackers try to overwhelm a server or mask their activity under a flood of typical actions elsewhere). Additionally, the cloud can expand a company’s secure perimeter if wearable devices are connected to an AI-controlled environment.