AI Driven Cyber Security- The Biggest Weapon for CSOs in the Era

Attributed By: Binu Thomas, EVP and India Region Head, Paladion

The term Artificial Intelligence (AI) collectively refers to a set of intuitive technologies like natural language processing (NLP), machine learning, and data science. These technologies are capable of performing tasks usually attributed to humans, emulating cognitive abilities like learning from experience and using it to consistently improve performance.

With AI constantly evolving and acquiring advanced deep learning capabilities, machines are becoming increasingly adept at learning how to recognise patterns and create models to help them perform a diverse range of tasks.

While it has several potential use-cases in enterprises, one of its most crucial applications has emerged in the realm of IT and cyber security. AI has the ability to not only add value to an organisation’s operations, but also significantly augment human functions pertaining to threat monitoring, detection, and response.

To understand the capabilities of AI-driven MDR even further, let us see the measures taken by an MDR solution for threat assessment, response generation, and prevention:

• Monitoring attack campaigns rather than isolated threats

Conventional managed security services are equipped to deal with only current threats as they occur. However, modern threat actors are far more sophisticated and so are the attacks. The duration of attacks is also long since a single hack can trigger a chain of breaches spread across multiple stages. An MDR service unearths links between multiple alerts over a longer term, using analytics to discover campaigns and reveals the progression of an attack in detail. This enhanced visibility over the entire attack can help in mitigating relevant threats whilst also reducing the long-term security risk.

• Swift and proactive investigation of each threat’s impact

Traditional security monitoring systems sound threat alerts based only on rules and detection of specific signatures. The security teams have to then investigate the threat to determine its severity and potential impact on the organisation’s cyber assets. This is an extremely slow and ineffective process and cannot stand up to modern cyber threats, where the damage is done in a matter of seconds. A well-designed MDR system, on the other hand, conducts a quick and comprehensive investigation of higher-level threats to identify the potential damage and respond appropriately to stop it before the breach goes any further.

• Containing the breach

A rapid response helps in mitigating the impact of an attack and also helps ensure that the organisation is no longer vulnerable to similar attacks in the future. Once a breach is discovered, an MDR service proactively takes the necessary measures such as killing a process, deleting files, and altering firewall configurations to immediately contain the breach and stop data pilferage.

• Eliminating the root causes of immediate and future threats

Besides containing any immediate threats to cyber assets, efficient incident management entails three critical steps: remediation, recovery, and retrospection. The MDR service-driven threat management system creates a record of different incidents affecting the organisation. This recorded data then helps the security system to prevent the same attacks from taking place again.

AI can significantly augment the capabilities of security experts by providing them with relevant insights to take the right call. Through a combination of advanced data analytics and machine learning, AI-driven MDR solutions can complement human-led security interventions to offer comprehensive protection of enterprise networks and data.

Considering the rate of data generation and digital adoption, it is imperative that organisations have the security tools defend themselves against sophisticated threats. To achieve this, CISOs must begin investing in AI-driven solutions, as well as towards strong human-machine collaborations in the context of enterprise security – right away!

For CISOs, integrating AI into their enterprise security framework through solutions such as Managed Detection and Response (MDR) can deliver substantial benefits which conventional security mechanisms simply cannot. That’s because an MDR solution not only monitors systems and responds to attacks, but also proactively hunts for threats, analyses multiple incidents in depth, and anticipates similar threats that may arise in the future. More importantly, it does all of this in real-time to protect enterprise systems and sensitive data from threats and attacks, 24x7.