United Kingdom, Dec 21, 2023
2023 will always be remembered as the year in which the progress and capability of Artificial Intelligence (AI) truly accelerated. Following the launch of ChatGPT in late-2022, the technology and its various capabilities have moved from a science fiction concept in most people’s minds to an everyday reality.
Everyone now has access to sophisticated AI models, and that includes cybercriminals. The financial impact of cyberattacks continues to rise and having a system that can deal with every sort of threat – including those of the AI-driven variety – is imperative. As we enter this era of widespread AI, companies should be looking at implementing security systems which also leverage the technology to remain one step ahead.
Cyberattacks can take place in different ways, including malware or ransomware attacks which aim to steal data or hold it for ransom. But how do organisations best rebuff such attacks? There is also a skills gap in the IT industry which is particularly pronounced in the cybersecurity sector, leading to fatigued and overwhelmed teams trying to tackle more incidents. All this leads to a higher chance that an important Indicator of Compromise (IoC) will be missed, which is where AI comes in.
A Helping Hand
Integrating AI into your Security Operations Centre (SOC) and deploying powerful AI-enhanced threat detection like IBM’s Security QRadar means that technology can bridge some of that gap and reduce the chances of a breach. AI can automate repetitive tasks for your team, mitigating this fatigue issue and closing the gap while safeguarding your business.
However, AI shouldn’t be viewed as a replacement for people. By adding AI to your SOC’s arsenal of security defences, it can be a vital tool in helping your team to make better-informed decisions. The technology can proactively combine external data and combine it with internal data to help your team determine what its next move should be. In all cases, the IT team has the ultimate say in how much and what sort of work the AI does, as well as where it can be most effective.
A Faster Response
AI can catch connections for threat and risk insight, highlighting potential issues that staff may miss due to turnover, inexperience, or the passage of time In other words, it finds commonalities to add more context and catch what otherwise may be missed. As AI can read more data than a human is capable of, it can reduce detection and response times, enable deeper and more consistent investigations, and empower analysts to make data-driven decisions when it comes to threats.
It can also assist in alert prioritisation, allowing investigations to be conducted thoroughly in a fraction of the time it may otherwise take. Through IBM’s MITRE ATT&CK framework, analysts can also visually depict a timeline of events showing the progression of a threat, resulting in faster and more accurate threat detection or prevention.
A Comprehensive End-To-End Tool
At any stage of a data breach, AI enables your SOC to be better prepared and recover faster. IBM’s QRadar Security Intelligence Platform takes this technology and integrates it into your SOC to provide an all-encompassing analytics solution — all on a single platform. This comprehensive suite of solutions means that your businesses data will be kept as safe as possible, and the system will continuously improve over its lifespan, learning from previous attacks and allowing companies to reassess and redefine their incident response strategy.
Such solutions offer an unparalleled flexibility and peace of mind that your SOC is ready to deal with any threat efficiently, effectively, and promptly, which is the expectation of cybersecurity defence around the world. This is more critical than ever as AI-driven cyberattacked before more commonplace and sophisticated.
As well as helping to tackle the rising threat level, deploying AI means that IT teams can focus on more high-level issues, while errors caused by fatigue and repetition will be reduced. Working with industry leaders, like IBM and Logicalis, can also help ensure that the strategies and solutions your company puts in place are effective, supporting seamless integration and transition which benefits your business both today and for the future.