HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS REVOLUTIONISING THE CYBER SECURITY INDUSTRY It wasn’t that long ago that AI (Artificial Intelligence) was considered a terrifying product of the future, with robots taking over the world. However, AI at present is commonplace with elements of it touching all our lives. For example, at the end of 2019, more than 100 million AI devices had been sold and introduced into people’s homes in the form of Alexa; Amazon’s virtual assistant. With Amazon’s Alexa, there have been mixed responses with some users embracing AI and others being concerned about the privacy implications. Such concerns are not necessarily misplaced. Although AI has revolutionised some industries, it has also revolutionised how cyber security professionals fight cyber crime with great success.
AI AND MALWARE Cyber security professionals are not alone where utilisation of AI technologies are concerned. Unfortunately, cyber criminals are now exploiting AI to create malicious malware at volumes not previously seen. Using AI, cyber criminals can automatically alter the malware code, making it almost impossible for traditional signature-based antivirus systems to detect and therefore manage using reactive methods. Malware comes in various forms; it can be a virus, adware, trojan, spyware, worm or ransomware, to name a few. Famously, the NHS suffered a catastrophic data breach in the form of WannaCry ransomware back in late 2017. Cyber criminals in this instance produced malware which exploited a vulnerability within windows file sharing, ultimately enabling the malware to install without user interaction. After the malicious program had infected a computer, the program would automatically encrypt all files, WannaCry would then demand payment via bitcoin in return for all encrypted files stored on the infected computer. To this day WannaCry is still being spread, however, with altered malware code resulting in untold damages.
SO WHERE’S THE INTELLIGENCE IN THIS? At CIS we strive to make sure that all bases are covered in regards to cyber security. Currently, for our clients we use Sophos Intercept X to detect both known and unknown malware which all too often finds it way into emails and untrustworthy websites - Intercept X effectively uses a deep learning neural network (AI) to help protect against threats in a predictive manner rather than being wholly reactive to threats. The sheer speed in which malicious third parties are creating malware means that conventional methods for detecting, cannot keep up. Therefore; if malware is created using AI, to fight it effectively, AI must be used by cyber security professionals.
ADAPTABILITY There is a constant race going on between cyber criminals and cyber security professionals to be one step ahead. Cyber security processes need to be adaptable to change and constantly learning from
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