EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
As reported by executives, the top tangible benefit of AI is cyber security and risk management optimization. Right now, nearly 70% of enterprises say that they cannot effectively respond to cyber threats without AI security tools.
However, despite the decidedly viable and valuable AI-based security opportunities that exist, sensationalism continues to obscure how AI security tools can truly advance cyber security initiatives.
In this article, explore 10 essential ways in which AI-powered tools can supercharge your cyber security systems and help you fight back against the most formidable cyber threats.
AI security tools: Essential information
1. AI excels at anomaly detection. More than 50% of businesses primarily leverage AI for anomaly and threat detection. Traditional signature-based security tends to struggle while identifying zero-day attacks. In contrast, AI-powered solutions can quickly parse through large volumes of data to identify unusual patterns and potential threats, including never-before-seen threats.
2. Automation results in faster response. AI can automate repetitive tasks, like threat analysis and incident triage. In turn, this provides cyber security analysts with more time to focus on high-priority issues. This translates to faster response times and reduced damage from breaches.
3. Machine learning improves continuously. AI solutions that leverage machine learning improve and adapt, based on new data and attack patterns, on a consistent basis. As a result of the continuous learning process, organizations can stay ahead of the latest cyber threats effectively and with less anxiety around the issue than otherwise.
4. AI can enable a modular approach to security. Depending on the tooling, AI can enable organizations to start with specific AI modules, like threat prevention and incident response, and then add additional modules as needs change. This ensures that organizations get a high return on AI security tools and investments.
5. AI can help personalize security. Tools like Check Point Harmony can integrate with Check Point Infinity, leveraging contextual AI to understand user behavior, application risk and device posture. In turn, this allows for granular policy enforcement based on context, reducing the possibility of high-risk activities persisting along the attack surface.
6. AI can reveal hidden patterns in threat data. Advanced AI-powered threat intelligence platforms can analyze vast quantities of data from disparate sources and can uncover connections and patterns that would otherwise be missed via traditional methods. This enables organizations to obtain a sharper understanding of the threat landscape. It also allows organizations to predict attacker behavior with greater accuracy and to prepare systems accordingly.
7. Your adversaries are AI-powered. These days, cyber criminals are weaponizing AI-based tools to move at machine speed. They can exploit vulnerabilities, move laterally and compromise multiple targets simultaneously, expanding cyber threats. This means that your organization also needs to consider using AI in order to block AI-based threats.
8. Adaptive access control. Some AI-powered cyber security solutions can dynamically adjust access permissions based on user behavior and contextual factors. This ensures that only authorized users retain access to sensitive resources, limiting the potential for unauthorized data access or breaches where hackers simply ‘log in’.
9. The fusion of human expertise and AI. At Check Point, we believe that the future of cyber security lies not in replacing human expertise, but in empowering it. While AI offers unparalleled speed, analyses and automation, things like human judgement, experience and intuition are irreplaceable in the process of preventing and blocking cyber threats.
Security staff may need to transition from a solely human-driven approach to one that embraces collaboration with AI-based tools. This involves shifting the mindset to seeing AI as a partner, not as a human replacement.
10. AI-based cyber security solutions offer cost benefits. IBM research shows that organizations using AI and automation within cyber security incurred $3.05 million less in breach costs, on average, as compared to organizations without such solutions. When applied to cyber security, AI-based solutions not only enhance threat identification and mitigation, but also contribute to cost savings.
Conclusion
By leveraging AI-powered cyber security solutions, CISOs can significantly advance a given organization’s capacity to prevent, detect and respond to cyber attacks.
Check Point Infinity, for example, offers a comprehensive AI-powered security platform that empowers you to anticipate threats and automate responses with unmatched speed and precision.
This translates to proactive protection, minimization of damage, and peace-of-mind in knowing that your organization is future-proofed against the most sophisticated cyber sabotage.
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