AI both generates new cybersecurity risks and offers fresh approaches to fortify your company’s defenses. We spoke with experts about how AI is affecting cybersecurity and how businesses might benefit from it while maintaining data security.
The growing role of artificial intelligence in security
Historically, threat actors have been unable to fully utilize AI due to a lack of cybersecurity capabilities. However, this is shifting due to the availability of generative AI tools.
According to Aaron Rosenmund, Senior Director of Security & GenAI Skills at Appic Softwares, “Thankfully, for the majority of the last 20 years, it was rare that the collection of skills required to leverage AI technologies and the malicious technical prowess of attacks existed in the same space.” “[But] in the last two years, generative AI has advanced and become more widely available, making these assistive tools accessible to everyone.”
This implies that more people will be able to develop complex assaults using AI tools. However, as Aaron points out, both parties gain from solutions like Security Copilot and AI Copilot. Good coding techniques make up a large portion of the criteria for malware development, and the copilot features are advantageous to both parties. I’m interested in watching where automated defenses develop in the upcoming years.
Advantages of AI in security
Let’s begin by discussing the benefits of applying AI to security. Security experts frequently find themselves in a never-ending state of catch-up against a variety of threats and rogue individuals. They can handle contemporary cybersecurity issues more quickly thanks to AI techniques.
Automating the identification and handling of threats
Threat detection and incident response play a part in that. Real-time data analysis is possible via AI algorithms, which may spot trends that point to possible dangers. With the use of past data, they can even lower false positive rates, highlight abnormalities for further examination, and spot zero-day assaults that went unnoticed in the past.
Discover how to leverage GenAI for threat detection and response, as well as how to protect your company against risks enabled by the technology.
AI-powered thorough risk assessment
Artificial intelligence (AI) systems can swiftly sift through vast volumes of data, identify potential weaknesses, and assess the risks they provide to the company. This enables security experts to give priority to the most pressing threats.
Organizations can take action to secure their organization and adopt a more proactive security posture if a risk assessment identifies specific weaknesses. AI is also useful in this regard.
Ensuring improved AI compliance
It can be difficult to comply with AI guidelines due to a variety of factors, including company policy, executive directives from the federal government, and privacy issues. However, AI can also help with security compliance, whether or not it is connected to AI.
It can be used, among other things, to decrease errors, streamline compliance tasks, and lower possible fines. It can also be used to keep up with the most recent rules. AI algorithms can continuously scan reputable news sources and regulatory databases for changes. This enables your company to quickly incorporate those modifications into your compliance processes.
Enhancing the cost-management process
Even while AI solutions may need large initial costs, they may end up being quite beneficial. The average cost of a data breach is $4.45 million, according to the IBM Cost of a Data Breach study for 2023. The favorable tidings? When it comes to data breaches, companies that use security AI have to pay less than those that don’t use AI-based cybersecurity solutions.
Additional applications for AI security products
Negative impact of AI on security
Although AI has the potential to improve security, it has also brought out new difficulties for cybersecurity.
Skills gaps in cybersecurity and AI continue.
Merely 17% of technicians have total faith in their abilities to secure networks. Even fewer(12%) have total confidence in their AI/ML abilities. In addition to the current mental health issues, this knowledge gap makes it difficult for security experts to use AI as a security tool and to protect against threats powered by AI.
Despite the benefits of AI, security professionals still need to upgrade their knowledge to comprehend how AI works with other tools and technologies. According to John, “there will be a wealth of new learning for information security professionals about how security and privacy work together in
AI.”
Social engineering is improved with deepfakes.
Threat actors frequently deceive people into disclosing information by applying pressure and social norms. And AI is working for them. According to Aaron, “voice emulation, deepfakes, and the like are enabling social engineering.”
They can then access surroundings over networks thanks to this first access. From this point on, they still need to survey the surroundings, spread laterally throughout the network, obtain elevated rights, download tools or ransomware, interact via C2 protocols, and eventually steal information or encrypt devices. They ought to be apprehended at every one of those sites.
Cybercriminals utilize AI to initiate cyberattacks.
John claims that “we have attackers,” which may be anything from nation-states to script kiddies who use AI to hone and enhance their attacks.
People without a lot of coding skills may now create malware, launch larger, more complex assaults, and use bots thanks to generative AI. As a result, both the number of attackers and threats has increased.
Threat actors are also attacking the models and data that support AI tools to exploit individuals and organizations who use them. They are launching attacks with tools such as:
- Instant injections
- Injection of open-source code
- Data tainting
- Evasion of the model
Chris states, “I see more use of AI for the offensive sort of thing.” For example, hacking can aid in the development of new scripts, speed up the creation of tools, and even offer an alternative viewpoint. This is because a lot of hacking and offensive security relies on creative problem-solving and innovative thinking to manipulate systems and cause them to behave in ways they shouldn’t.
The future of AI in security
AI is already having a significant impact on cybersecurity, and as time goes on, the threat landscape will only grow more complex. Teach your employees how to use AI to strengthen your organization’s defenses and to defend against these dangers.
To get you started, consider these courses:
- AI Generative Tools for Security Experts
- Privacy Issues and Security Risks with Generative AI
- Techniques of Generative AI for Cyber Defense
- Hot Points in Security: ChatGPT
Conclusion
The use of AI in cybersecurity is a revolutionary change that strengthens defenses against ever-evolving threats. Our manual examines how artificial intelligence may significantly improve threat detection and cybersecurity resilience in general.
Moreover, if you are looking for a company through which you can hire dedicated AI developers then you should check out Appic Softwares. We have an experienced team of developers who have helped clients across the globe with AI development.
So, what are you waiting for?
