Artificial intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science that is far from reaching its full potential, in which applications operate with indefinite autonomy, forever creating new algorithms in response to emerging IT scenarios.
AI is many years away from complete fruition. But even in its current state, it is a highly effective technology for addressing certain IT needs, one of which is cybersecurity.
When network security needs to be monitored around the clock, 365 days a year, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity are an ideal combination. AI cybersecurity is like a cybersecurity specialist who never tires and gives lightning-quick responses to security threats. If you haven’t combined artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, here are five benefits of AI cybersecurity that may inspire you to consult with a cybersecurity company sooner than later.
1. AI Processes Large Volumes of Data
For nearly all businesses that use it, one of the main benefits of AI cybersecurity is its ability to process enormous volumes of data with assembly-line efficiency, while automating the creation of algorithms to detect security threats across a wide range of elements in the IT network, including emails, websites visited, third-party software, shared files, and — perhaps most importantly — patterns of activity indicative of attempts to hack into the network.
Currently, AI can only self-adapt to a limited degree before it requires additional programming. Consequently, AI doesn’t replace IT staff. Rather, AI assists network analysts by quickly distinguishing harmful network activity from benign activity, allowing them to limit investigations to the former, and potentially program AI to resolve the activity in the future. As it stands, humans help AI become more intelligent, and vice versa.
2. AI Learns About New Security Threats
AI has a faculty known as “machine learning”, in which it essentially learns and improves by experience. It perceives the normal operation of your IT network and deduces that normal activity is not nefarious. In doing so, AI acquires the ability to detect potential threats by discerning abnormal activity. Legitimate threats are identified in their infancy, so they can be halted before they spread a virus, start logging keystrokes, give hackers time to browse, etc.
In addition to helping IT staff hone in on threats that have previously affected the network, AI can use machine learning to detect threats that are known to exist, but have never been experienced by your company. Again, this allows human intelligence to enhance AI by programming it with the capacity to detect an ever-growing number of IT security threats.
3. AI Identifies Unknown Security Threats
In addition to detecting threats that have occurred within a company’s network and known threats that have not, AI cybersecurity can detect new, unknown threats. Because hackers specialize in developing ways to enter networks undetected and catch companies off guard, this aspect of AI can prevent or dramatically reduce repercussions from an innovative hacking strategy that the annals of cybersecurity have yet to specifically classify and explain.
ZDNet reports that hackers will increasingly launch four newer types of attacks in 2019, and may innovate the methods of attack to become less detectable: cryptojacking, attacks aimed at Internet of Things (IoT) devices, cross-site scripting, and malware attacks targeting mobile devices. The ability of AI cybersecurity to swiftly process colossal volumes of data and detect new threats presents a formidable obstacle to even the most innovative, well-planned attacks.
4. AI Provides Consistent Protection 24/7
Artificial intelligence and cybersecurity are an ideal combination for monitoring network security 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Hackers don’t keep normal business hours, and their attacks are launched from various time zones. If you want to learn of malicious items and attempted network breaches in real-time — and not at the start of the next business day — monitoring your IT system around the clock is a necessity.
Compared to using an AI cybersecurity solution, having IT staff work in shifts to monitor network security is neither cost-effective nor efficient. A third-party cybersecurity application can be implemented for an affordable monthly fee. Plus, the diagnostic capability of the app will be remarkably more thorough and decisive than what human intervention alone could offer.
In the long run, combining artificial intelligence and cybersecurity helps companies use human resources more effectively. Letting an AI cybersecurity application perform security diagnostics, and then having IT staff investigate legitimate threats that the app diagnoses, helps your company use the time, training, and talents of IT personnel more effectively.
5. AI Can Offer a Longer Lasting Solution
AI cybersecurity is programmed to automatically interpret new scenarios of network activity, but it currently lacks the capacity to automate indefinitely. Even so, its present capacity predicts that it may not need to be updated as frequently as “fixed” cybersecurity apps, which cannot evolve without receiving an update. If you want a solution that requires updates as infrequently as possible, using one that’s orchestrated by AI is likely to be your best option.
Furthermore, an AI solution may not need to be retired and replaced as quickly as one that uses traditional technology. A cybersecurity application is typically replaced for one of two general reasons: the methods of hackers eclipse its technology, or changes in network configuration create security gaps that the solution can’t fill. On either count, AI applications are likelier to have longer projected lifespans than apps that lack automated adaptivity.
Need Better Cybersecurity?
If so, or you aren’t quite sure, the IT specialists at NIC are here to help. We specialize in software as a service (SaaS) cybersecurity that is highly customized, cost-effective, and constantly on guard. To find out if AI cybersecurity is an optimal strategy for making your network more secure, contact us today to schedule a consultative review of your needs.
