Changing Cybersecurity with AI

Artificial Intelligence, the term which first originated in the 1950s, has now emerged as a prominent buzzword all over the world. More than 15% of companies are using AI and it is proving to be one of the most powerful and game-changing technology advancements of all time. From Siri to Sophia, the technology has people noticing it and wondering how this will impact their future. 

Presently, Artificial Intelligence is seen everywhere. Major industries like healthcare, education, manufacturing and banking are investing in AI for their digital transformation. Cybersecurity, being the major concern of the digital world, is still uncertain about the impact AI will have on it. With widespread cyber-attacks and attackers, cybercrime is growing to become a massively profitable business which is one of the largest threats to firms in the world. For this very reason, many companies are implementing Artificial Intelligence techniques which automatically detect threats and fight them without human involvement.

How AI Is Enhancing Cybersecurity

Artificial Intelligence is improving cybersecurity by automating complicated methods which detect attacks and react to security breaches. This has led to an improvement in monitoring incidents, leading to faster detection of threats and its consequent responses, an essential outcome as it minimizes the damage caused. Various Machine Learning Algorithms are adapted for this process depending on the data obtained. In the field of cybersecurity, these algorithms can identify exceptions and predict threats with greater speed and accuracy. 

How AI is implemented in organizations to ensure cybersecurity:

Conditional access: Authentication models are used by companies to secure important information and prevent them from being accessed by unauthorized users. When this data is accessed remotely however, it can be easily compromised by intruders.

In such cases, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) can be used, which requires more than one type of authentication and information like location, network, etc. can be collected. Using this information, AI-powered systems can modify the access rights of users to assure data security.

Biometric verification: The passwords used to secure users’ credit card information or personal information can be easily compromised and are vulnerable to cyber attacks. 

Hence, biometric verification methods have been introduced by deploying Artificial Intelligence for cybersecurity. Fingerprints, palm prints, and retina can be scanned accurately with the help of AI systems. These methods can be combined with passwords used in devices like smartphones.

Intrusion detection and prevention: Artificial Intelligence systems can detect intrusion into a network using various codes, algorithms and pattern recognition. These systems can prevent issues from occurring in the future with the help of predictive analysis by analyzing past and present data. 

AI can also be a threat

Though the potentials of AI seem like promising opportunities to many, it comes with its threats. It can, in fact, be used to help cyber criminals achieve their goals as much as it helps in securing data. One of the significant issues is that AI can automate attacks on an extensive scale.

This technology has become a new tool for hackers, since the independent benefits of Artificial Intelligence in cybersecurity apply to cyber attackers and their treacherous actions as well. Now, attacks are more successful and personalized. The principles used by cybersecurity experts to prevent cyber-attacks can also be used by hackers to develop their own AI-powered systems which can trick existing systems by learning from them. 

How to overcome AI challenges

In order to ensure cybersecurity, a half-and-half approach, where only specific processes are human-controlled while the rest is automated, is the most logical choice. Artificial Intelligence can be used to share the burden of inspection and monitoring, while taking away tedious tasks from humans. 

Logical, systematic, structural and repeatable processes can be handled by Artificial Intelligence while skills linked to innovation, intuition and cultural knowledge are to be provided by humans as machines are not capable of such qualities. Therefore, AI systems along with human intervention, can be used to create more flexible and robust environments which are able to predict methods of cyber-attack.

We are far away from inventing advanced Artificial Intelligence machines to ensure complete cybersecurity. Constant investigation and advancement of Artificial Intelligence are aiding the exponential growth of this technology. When implementing AI technology even across small-scale industries, the benefits and risks of AI must always be considered. 

Author Bio: 

Amelia Emma  is a Content Marketing Manager at GreyCampus with six years’ experience developing content for professional certification courses like PMP- Project Management Professional, PMI-ACP, Six Sigma, Prince2, AIML and ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library).