Cyberattacks have been rising in frequency and scale for the past few years. We have seen a sharp jump since the start of the notorious pandemic.
With data security at risk like never before, it’s no surprise that more and more companies are turning to artificial intelligence in hopes of stronger digital protection against hackers, phishers, and other cybercriminals.
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By the way, AI is more than just a tool for enhancing cybersecurity. Learn some curious facts about AI here
But first, what are the main benefits of artificial intelligence?
Applications and Uses of AI
As its very name suggests, artificial intelligence is the intelligence displayed by machines rather than by living creatures.
Machine learning is a subcategory of AI that identifies patterns and applies them in problem-solving. Currently, both AI and ML are successfully implemented in a variety of domains, including:
Banking and Finance
Healthcare
Real estate
Retail and e-commerce
Logistics and transportation
Surveillance
Manufacturing
Entertainment and gaming
Education
Digital marketing
Software development
And finally, AI and machine learning can be indispensable in cybersecurity.
The role of AI in cybersecurity
AI can predict and ward off cyberattacks more accurately because it can process enormous amounts of data quickly.
Artificial intelligence enables modern businesses to replace traditional tools with more efficient solutions, boosting productivity. As a result, AI is reported to be quite effective in security awareness training.
AI solutions that have been developed with specific cyber security needs in mind can deploy more creative and time-saving techniques, which allows expediting the onboarding, on-job training, and mentoring process.
AI-powered tutors can act as mentors by automatically assigning tasks to beginner cybersecurity experts and tracking their progress.
Thus, AI solutions free experienced practitioners from supervising and mentoring duties and allow them to focus on other, more complex or important tasks.
Machine learning can be very effective against malware. It can scan massive databases of existing malicious software and block an attack if a new, modified version of it surfaces.
AI is also great at network monitoring. Machine learning can detect user behavior and flag unexpected activity as a potential threat.
As you may know, artificial intelligence also shows great promise in countering cyberterrorism. Today, governments, companies, and big corporations pin their hopes on AI.
AI technologies are believed to be helpful in improving homeland security and states’ abilities to protect their citizen’s rights to privacy. What’s more, AI enables agencies to analyze the activity of large segments of the population and identify potential threats more quickly.
Recent developments in AI and machine learning have expanded the ability to conduct network surveillance without spending enormous resources. AI technologies are now widely used for conducting online surveillance, receiving, transmitting, and processing data over an IP network.
And the good news is that AI makes it possible to conduct surveillance without infringing on human rights to privacy and data protection.
AI can encrypt video data and prevent data misuse.
AI also plays a significant role in biometric authentication, which can help eliminate the need for passwords. That can be good news, since a staggering 80% of data breaches are linked to weak and thus unreliable passwords.
Most importantly, AI-powered solutions can go a long way towards spotting and addressing threats as soon as they arise. Thus, AI enables cybersecurity experts to be proactive and use the best available methods to neutralize threats.
Furthermore, AI technologies can help when you need to address critical vulnerabilities quickly. AI is 40% more effective at detecting weak points in applications, databases, etc.
And these aren't just ordinary bugs that occasionally disrupt user experience and get in the way of installing a new feature update; issues frequently highlighted alongside advanced discovery tech in a Deep search engine review. We’re talking about exploitable vulnerabilities hackers may use to get access to users’ private information.
Still, machine learning makes it much easier to teach systems to spot threats, sift through malicious code line by line, and develop workable solutions that can patch the system in a timely fashion.
Main Challenges of AI
Despite the indisputable benefits AI brings to the cybersecurity industry, it should not be considered a panacea. AI isn’t necessarily the all-powerful solution to end cyberattacks altogether. In fact, it poses challenges, too.
First, keep in mind that AI tech is not invincible. Hackers can manipulate some AI tasks if they gain access. For example, an AI-enabled program could be tricked into labeling malicious software or dangerous user behavior as safe or normal, or vice versa.
Biometric authentication, which is popular among users, can also be dangerous. Biometric information in the wrong hands can be used for surveillance or other infringements of users’ privacy.
Unlike passwords, you can't change your biometric data. This brings users to another problem. AI technology has enabled us to collect and process more data than ever before. As a result, it will likely further erode digital privacy and security.
Another challenge that AI poses is how expensive it actually is to implement. Since much of AI is still in the early stages of development and experimental, the cost may be too high for many businesses.
And what if criminals tap into the power of AI solutions? This could enable hackers to carry out bigger, more sophisticated attacks very quickly. With network monitoring and user-behavior pattern learning, criminals can also use machine learning to determine why certain cyberattacks failed and devise more powerful, effective attack models.
AI can also create malware that resembles trusted software. It can learn more about the target network’s patterns and execute dangerous attacks without being detected.
Hackers can also use AI for more powerful attacks with deep learning. When researchers gave AI millions of leaked passwords and tasked it with generating new ones, the program achieved an alarming 24% success rate.
Ways to improve security measures
Companies that want to strengthen their AI-based cybersecurity systems should invest enough time and effort in building a robust cybersecurity policy. It’s also essential to establish an efficient network topology to manage all users’ networks more effectively.
This will also help cybersecurity experts to locate and troubleshoot issues faster. AI can also be used to develop effective cybersecurity strategies and policies and to document network traffic patterns.
Finally, to get the most out of AI-powered systems and solutions, companies should take special care to hire only reputable, experienced software developers. Many firms and individual developers claim to be highly qualified and experienced in developing AI cybersecurity solutions, which makes it harder to choose the right service.
Unless you have an established team of professionals, research all available options carefully and never leave your cybersecurity program development to chance.
Last but not least, companies and agencies that use AI and ML should continually improve and update their solutions.
Like any technology, AI-powered solutions can become obsolete faster than you might think. So, it’s critical to stay abreast of changes in the cybersecurity domain and implement fixes and updates in a timely manner.
Wrapping Up
So, will AI take over cybersecurity? It will certainly play a more prominent role in the digital security industry in the coming years. The AI market is poised to reach over $35 billion by 2026. And because it is so powerful and promising, AI is becoming an integral part of the cybersecurity industry.
AI has given the cybersecurity sector the tools to automate threat and data breach detection, predict attacks and fend them off as quickly as possible. Developments in AI and machine learning also help provide timely, more efficient training for beginner cybersecurity experts and allow veteran practitioners to focus on more important tasks.
Though relatively young, AI has already gone a long way towards enhancing cybersecurity. More challenges remain, and new heights must be reached before this promising technology can finally reach its full potential.
