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In a vulnerable world where the slightest data leak can cost a company millions of dollars, intelligent cybersecurity systems are the need of the hour for the continuous protection of private and public data, systems, and intellectual property.
The unstoppable and ever-evolving growth of the information age, technology, and digital assets have brought their own set of potential threats, vulnerabilities, and risks. For instance, with the recent developments in AI and Machine learning the security landscape has indeed progressed and become much smarter but so did the intensity and superiority of cyberattack methods and techniques.
A Simple Way Out of the Madness
If you are a small-scale SME or individual running a data-sensitive business from their garage, besides a strong cybersecurity infrastructure a secure internet can also save you from unimaginable loss.
For your peace of mind, Xfinity provides incomparable protection against all cyber threats with multiple advanced security features providing dedicated protection. To connect you with one of the safest, most reliable, and most secure services in the US, moreover, Xfinity customer service representatives are available 24/7.
The Present Cybersecurity Landscape
In an ever-increasing attack surface with thousands of devices and vectors to exploit and a handful of cybersecurity professionals presently in the market. AI-based cybersecurity products are an inescapable requirement that all businesses, organizations, and even nation-states need to adapt.
According to IBM’s 2023 Cost of a Data Breach report, “The global average cost of a data breach in 2023 was USD 4.45 million, a 15% increase over 3 years. The average savings for organizations that use security AI and automation extensively is USD 1.76 million compared to organizations that don’t.”
So, instead of reverting to archaic and redundant methods that are not efficient, agile, and smart enough to compete with AI-powered attacks and threats, businesses need to heavily invest in AI-powered products and infrastructure to protect their critical assets.
Role of 2017 U.S. Election Hacking
What can be bigger than hacking the elections of the world’s biggest democracy? Believe it or not, it happened. It is reported that hackers connected with the Russian GRU infiltrated large-scale data systems of the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Hilary Clinton campaign officials to leak sensitive information to social media.
However, the plot was bigger than this and was going on since 2013 to help Donald Trump win the elections. It not only involved structured cyberattacks on sensitive information but mass manipulation of information and social media to influence public opinion.
Why did they do that? Well, to simply help a pro-Russian president control the helm of the world’s biggest superpower that can be further manipulated for strategic purposes. Did they succeed? Yes, 4 years of Trump is proof enough. And were the authorities able to prove that they did it? The answer is no.
However, the only positive coming out of this was the much-needed awareness Federal agencies needed about the ever-expanding web of cyber threats circling them, primarily Russia and China. This is the reason why many new cybersecurity organizations were created after the 2017 attacks. Most prominently, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in 2018 with the sole purpose of tackling emerging threats in a structured manner while educating and preparing organizations in threat detection, intelligence, and response.
How Can AI & Machine Learning Boost Your Information Security Infrastructure?
AI and machine learning have become increasingly important for rapid and smart threat detection, hunting, intelligence, and emergency response planning. Because time is of the essence when it comes to cyberattacks, a cybersecurity professional manually siphoning through a pile of data is simply not well-equipped to reach the point of convergence to stop further leaks.
Contrarily, an AI-educated professional equipped with powerful AI and ML tools can not only use them to stop threats in real-time but also automate better firewalls to predict and stop a similar attack. For instance, through simple analysis of large chunks of data AI and ML can detect phishing and malware in an instant. Even if the cybercriminal uses a unique malware code to avoid detection, ML can simply draw on previous data to analyze previous data, user behavior, and patterns to highlight future anomalies.
Future Potential
In the simplest of terms, the application of AI and ML technology in the cybersecurity landscape is endless. A few of the advanced applications are mentioned below:
Applications
Natural Language Processing – Identifies Language-Related Elements
Random Forests – Detects maliciousness of decision tree scenarios
Anomaly Detection – A ML model used to detect deviations from normal datasets
Graph Analysis – Exposes botnets to prevent DDoS attacks
Limitations
In any case, the cost associated with building an AI-powered infrastructure that specifically recognizes the patterns that are used for a specific business remains relatively high. However, in time with the amount of investment going into the integration of AI in cybersecurity systems, even small-business owners or an individual will be able to deploy AI and ML-powered security systems will be able to create and automate security around data infrastructures.