In recent times, the impact of Artificial Intelligence or AI on humans has been a long debate. Today, many enterprises have been using AI to satisfy their corporate needs. At the same time, today, almost every company is paying a good amount of money for strengthening their cybersecurity posture. So, with this increased demand for cybersecurity as well as AI, let us analyze how AI is going to create an impact in the cybersecurity domain.
Use Cases of AI in Cybersecurity
Following are some potential use cases where AI is being used for improving the cybersecurity levels within the business organizations-
1. Analysis of Network Threats
Companies are looking to digitize most of the operations and in this process, they are updating the legacy and in-house developed networks. These in-house developed networks are mostly complicated and need extensive security resources for managing all their communication processes, transactions as well as connections. All this can pile up to massive CAPEX along with risks of error. AI in cybersecurity can be effectively used here in some cases. When AI is deployed in cybersecurity, it monitors the traffic flow for all kinds of malicious activities and then classifies the types of threats that might occur.
2. Detection of Malware
When AI is used in cybersecurity, it helps in identifying the presence of malware even before the files containing malware are opened. It also identifies the types of malware and this can be extremely beneficial as the malware is continuously on the rise along with botnets, ransomware, trojan, to name a few. Due to the large size of samples collected from various malware applications have proven that this has been one of the best uses of AI with cybersecurity. Well-defined and administered algorithms are dependent on big and clearly defined data sets.
AI in Cybersecurity: Benefits and Advantages
- Today, we are witnessing the increased usage of biometrics for creating secured login methods. Biometrics are usually carried when either the fingerprint, retina or palm print of an individual is scanned. Biometrics can be done as a single stand-alone method or coupled with a password. In most of the smartphones, we are already witnessing the conjunction of the biometrics as well as passwords. Various experts from the cybersecurity domain have time and again highlighted the fact that for any business, passwords are most vulnerable to any kind of cyber attack, which leads to a big compromise of personal information and security social numbers (SSN). These are the reasons why biometric logins are perceived as a positive AI contribution to the field of cybersecurity.
- AI can help in automating the process of detecting any kind of threat. It can be used for analyzing the large volume of activities that occur on a company’s network to go with the communication channels that are being used by employees of an organization such as- email, files, and website. AI, however, might not be 100% accurate in detecting threats; still, it can be used for identifying a significant portion of activities that might be hostile.
- AI also holds the potential for identifying malicious attacks based on the behavior of the network. AI cybersecurity solutions can also be used for learning about the regular traffic of the system as well as its behavior. AI can also be used for protecting the business firms and their clients from any kind of cyberattack in case of multiple attacks taking place on their business or website.
- AI can also be effectively used for detecting threats as well as other malicious activities. The traditional systems often fail to maintain the count of malware being created on a timely basis, so this opens chances for AI to address this issue. Companies have been teaching their AI systems regarding the detection of viruses and malware with the help of complex algorithms. AI systems, if appropriately trained, can be also be used for determining the minute changes in behaviors of ransomware as well as malware even before it infiltrates the user systems.
- Another possible way in which AI can be positively used in cybersecurity is by deploying an MFA or Multi-Factor Authentication access to the system users. Usually, different users have different roles and authentication rights in business and are mostly dependent on the location from which the users access the system. When AI is used in such systems, the authentication framework becomes more dynamic. AI can also help in modifying the access roles based on the network and location of the users. MFA helps in collecting the user information for understanding their behavior.
AI in Cybersecurity: Drawbacks and Limitations
Besides several key benefits of deploying AI with cybersecurity, there are certain limitations and drawbacks as well.
Some limitations of using AI with cybersecurity include-
- For maintaining and building an AI system, the businesses need to have the right amount of resources like- memory, data as well as computing power. Also, AI systems are often trained with the help of data sets; the businesses need to have the right amount of data sets related to malicious and non-malicious codes along with anomalies. The time taken to collect the authenticated data sets can be significantly large.
- There is a great possibility that the hackers themselves might be using AI to become fully resistant and test their malware. With hackers being AI-resistant, it enhances their chances to become AI-proof completely. AI-proof malware can be potentially destructive as they tend to learn from the pre-existing AI tools and create higher degree attacks that can penetrate the traditional cybersecurity mechanisms or systems that have been boosted by AI.
Future of AI in Cybersecurity
AI in cybersecurity holds a very promising future and these promises always have some form of risk involved. AI is also being used by hackers and cybercriminals, resulting in huge threat escalations for the machines and their data. Lastly, the future of AI in cybersecurity is purely dependent on how effectively technology is being used for safeguarding the data and associated vital processes.
Concluding Remarks
To conclude, AI is going to play a significant role in the next-gen cybersecurity solutions. With its vast potential, AI can be effectively used for maintaining digital hygiene for business and tackling the cyberattacks. AI will also help the organization to secure their IT environment against the dynamically changing threat landscapes.