EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Over 90 percent of organizations consider threat hunting a challenge. More specifically, seventy-one percent say that both prioritizing alerts to investigate and gathering enough data to ascertain a signal’s maliciousness can be quite difficult.
Threat hunting is necessary simply because no cyber security protections are always 100% effective. An active defense is needed, as opposed to dependence on ‘set it and forget it’ types of security tools.
But, despite active threat hunting, many persistent threats often remain undiscovered — until it’s too late. Or at least, that used to be the case. Artificial intelligence is changing the game. Threat hunting is a task “…that could be accelerated, or in some cases replaced, by AI,” says Check Point’s CTO, Dr. Dorit Dor.
Evolve your threat hunting
Many threat hunters contend with visibility blind-spots, non-interoperable tools and growing complexity due to the nature of hybrid environments. But the right tools can empower threat hunters to contain threats quickly, minimizing the potential impact and expenses associated with an attack.
1. Self-learning. AI-powered cyber security solutions that assist with threat hunting can learn from new threats and update their internal knowledge bases. In our high-risk digital environments, this level of auto-adaptability is indispensable, as it keeps security staff ahead of attacks.
2. Speed and scale. AI-driven threat hunting engines can also process extensive quantities of data in real-time. This allows for pattern and indicator of compromise identification at speed and scale – as never seen before.
3. Predictive analytics. As AI-powered engines parse through your organization’s historical data, the AI can then predict potential threat vectors and vulnerabilities. In turn, security staff can proactively implement means of mitigating associated issues.
4. Collaborative threat hunting. AI-based tools can facilitate collaboration between security analysts by correlating data from different sources. It can then suggest potential threat connections that neither party would have observed independently. This can be huge.
5. Automated response. AI security solutions can automate responses to certain types of threats after they’re identified. For instance, AI can block certain IP addresses or isolate compromised systems, reducing friction and response times.
Implicit challenges
Although AI-based tools can serve as invaluable allies for threat hunters, AI cannot yet replace human analysts. Human staff members ensure a nuanced understanding and contextualization of cyber threats.
The right solution
What should you look for when it comes to AI-powered threat hunting tools? Prioritize tools that deliver rich, contextualized insights. Ensure cross-correlation across endpoints, network, mobile, email and cloud in order to identify the most deceptive and sophisticated of cyber attacks. Make sure that your entire security estate is protected.
Are you ready to leverage the power of AI for threat hunting? Get ready to hunt smarter, faster and more efficiently while leveraging the power of AI. The future of threat hunting has arrived. Get more information here.
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