As the modern world evolves, more threats arise. As of the first quarter of 2022, more than 90% of data breaches are cyberattack-related. Because of this, knowledge on cybersecurity and artificial intelligence has become crucial to a successful business. Businesses everywhere need true expertise to protect their data to avoid their competitors getting ahead.
We spoke with Taylor Hersom, Founder and CEO of Eden Data -- a cybersecurity company offering a retainer model of security leadership over security, compliance, and data privacy for startups -- about the current state of AI in cybersecurity.
Are we truly in the era of AI in cyber, or is it just machine learning?
It’s actually both, as machine learning is a part of AI and both have similar goals—to use computers that are able to streamline processes that normally take a lot of time for humans. These tasks can consequently be done much faster with technology.
How does AI help in minimizing human error in cyber?
Every company is collecting massive amounts of data, and humans just cannot keep up with it. AI and machine learning algorithms can be leveraged specifically in the security space. Other errors AI can help minimize are automated checks and balances, security vulnerabilities in the codes created by developers, and alerting functionality broadly stems.
How do AI and cybersecurity complement each other to prevent phishing attacks?
AI algorithms can compare threat databases, take existing data points, and determine that something harmful prevents them from reaching your inbox. On the other hand, the tool can scan the link in real-time and provide a report on “sketchy” behaviors.
How does AI help in minimizing cybersecurity threats such as ransomware and phishing?
One of the big ones here is threat hunting. Leveraging AI and essentially educating the algorithms, identifying threats sooner, and picking up on more advanced threats is a huge element of all of this. Another fascinating thing is the ability of AI to isolate a package to avoid being downloaded into the system and prevent ransomware from spreading.
What should we expect from the future of AI in cyber?
The future will be related to the automation of controls and procedures. What will my organization do in order to address an associated risk? So we will be able to automate a lot of menial tasks better and reduce the burden on the security professionals and the business as a whole because security it's not just limited to a security team.
With AI, we're getting much better at being able to identify threats, prevent threats, and shut things down at the source. AI is making our jobs easier on the good guy side but also our jobs harder on the bad guy side.
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