We have been dealing with compromised cybersecurity from decades. Consumer devices are infected by vast, usually automated botnets. And phishing or social engineering assaults are used to trick users into divulging their money or personal information.
Under-resourced security operations analysts are using artificial intelligence (AI) to keep ahead of threats as cyberattacks increase in volume and complexity.
Despite making large investments in security technologies, organizations still experience security breaches because their enemies are quick to adapt their strategies and keep up with technological advancements. The sheer number, level of intelligence, and difficulty of detecting cyberattacks may eventually overwhelm humans.
In addition to this, The cost of cybercrime is also predicted to increase, from US$3 trillion in 2015 to US$6 trillion by the end of 2021, and then reach US$10.5 trillion by 2025. In comparison to 2019, the average cost of a single data breach in 2021 was US$4.24 million. Insurance company AIG reports that ransomware claims alone have increased by 150% since 2018.
All these factors have created an urge by the top enterprises to employ a technology which not only ensures safety of the organization’s asset but also improve efficiency. In light to this historic challenge, cybersecurity tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI) have evolved to assist information security teams in reducing breach risk and enhancing their security posture.
Organizations may be able to reply more quickly than an attacker can move by using cyber AI ensuring digital immunity, which can also help them predict an attacker’s next move and prepare an immediate response. Cyber AI tools and technology are still in the early phases of adoption; between 2021 and 2025, the global market is anticipated to increase by US$19 billion.
Potential Targets of Data Breaching
The data breaching or unauthorized invasions by the hackers mostly targets:
- Your liquid assets, often known as the financial accounts where you keep your money, are the obvious target of a hacker. Upon gaining access to your bank, a hacker may be able to empty your accounts and transfer the money anywhere in the world.
Additionally, financial information shows the organization’s financial performance. Engineering this would not only destroy the worth of the company but also provide the rivals with an advantage. - The specifics of how your business runs could be much more valuable. Cybercriminals with access to your network can watch every email and document that comes into and goes out of your digital files. This information paints a clear picture of your company’s daily activities and provides any competitors with important information they could need to take market share away from you.
Cyber Threats
However, billion-dollar corporations are not the only ones that experience cyber risks. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are additionally impacted by the most prevalent cyber threats. Attacks may appear to occur instantly, but the majority are detected over the days, if not weeks or even months. In exchange, shedding light on one of the key difficulties small businesses encounter in terms of cyber security: a lack of knowledge and resources to protect against threat actors. in order to get through these obstacles.
The most common cyber threats faced by the organizations include:
Credential Stuffing
When an attacker uses credentials stolen from one organization to get into user accounts at another organization, this is known as credential stuffing. These credentials are frequently bought on the dark web or acquired through a breach. Despite reports of Disney Plus accounts being hacked in the news, Disney has not discovered any proof of forced entry. This is so because using a victim’s login and password to enter their account is known as credential stuffing.
Credential stuffing is an increasing threat vector due to two main factors: the widespread availability of huge databases of breach credentials and more advanced bots that simultaneously attempt many logins and appear to come from different IP addresses. These bots can frequently get beyond basic security precautions like blocking IP addresses with too many failed login attempts.
Malware Attacks
The second major hazard to small firms is malware. It includes a range of online dangers like viruses and Trojans. These attacks can cripple electronics, necessitating costly repairs or replacements, which is especially harmful for small firms. They may also provide hackers with a back door to data, putting clients and staff at danger. Malware typically originates via connections to other infected computers or devices, spam emails, or malicious website downloads.
Phishing Attacks
Phishing uses social engineering and deceit to exploit human frailty. In order to trick the victim into disclosing passwords and other sensitive information, the hacker assumes the identity of a reliable person or company. Phishing is an illustration of social engineering, a set of strategies con artists employ to influence people’s psychology. Forgery, misdirection, and lying are all social engineering strategies that can be used in phishing attempts. Phishing emails essentially use social engineering to get recipients to behave without carefully considering their actions.
Application of CyberAI
Cybersecurity is one of the most challenging issues we face, and AI is best approach to address it. Machine learning and AI can be used to “keep up with the bad guys,” automating threat detection and responding more effectively than conventional software-driven approaches, with today’s constantly developing cyber-attacks and proliferation of gadgets.
In this change, machine learning or AI algorithms are crucial. They are tremendously helpful for quickly automating decision-making processes and identifying patterns from incomplete or altered data, even though they are not a one-stop solution for all cybersecurity issues.
AI algorithms are highly effective pattern-detection tools that outperform antiquated list-based security methods. AI improves and outperforms these systems by spotting new threats that have irregular patterns. This level of AI proficiency requires a significant amount of learning, which can only be attained with reliable data sources for each danger vector. Due to the nature of security threats, malware, and adversarial tactics—which typically develop by building upon prior exploitations and viruses—AI algorithms can prevent some fresh attacks.
How is AI Preventing Cyber threats?
The application of Artificial intelligence in Cybersecurity has helped out various organization to prevent unauthorized breaching. Both machine learning and Artificial intelligence are preventing cyber issues in following ways:
- Automated Threat Detection
- Decreasing treat exposure
- Proper management of company’s valuable assets
- Prior prediction of Breach
- Highlighting potential Gaps in organization cyber controls
- Automated cyber threat hunting
- Vulnerability management
- Ensuring ultimate Network security
Early Birds of Cyber AI
there are various top firms which have already shifted there cybersecurity paradigm. let’s enlist a few:
Since its debut 18 years ago, Gmail has filtered emails using machine learning methods. Today, machine learning has a practical application of all of its services, especially deep learning. This technology enables algorithms to make more independent adjustments and practice self-regulation. The implementation of AI aided cybersecurity by google has greatly hampered the horizon of hackers.
IBM Watson
When it comes to “knowledge consolidation” jobs and machine learning-based threat detection, the IBM team is relying more and more on its Watson cognitive learning platform. Machine learning has greatly help them out to customize threat detections tools in a non-traditional environment.
Juniper Networks
The networking industry is in desperate need of innovative solutions to the networks’ unsustainable economics. According to Juniper, a production-ready, financially viable Self-Driving Networks is the solution to this issue.
This platform now assists cybersecurity teams in being more successful and efficient at the many tasks required to maintain a high level of security, including ransomware prevention and keeping systems patched.
Final Verdict
AI has become a crucial piece of equipment for supporting the work of human information security teams. AI provides necessary analysis and threat detection that helps cyber security professionals to decrease breach risk. It also helps strengthen security posture because humans can no longer scale to sufficiently guard the dynamic enterprise attack surface. In terms of security, AI can categories risks. It can quickly identify any malware on a network, direct incident response, and discover intrusions before they happen.
AI-based cyber security relies on training data, which is difficult to obtain. Any machine learning system will experience this, but it is especially true for the complicated state of cybersecurity. Over time, the systems improve, but it’s crucial to exercise patience at the beginning.