AI has taken the world by storm since ChatGPT was launched in late 2022. While many of its applications have people fearing for their jobs, debating how biased it is and highlighting factual inaccuracies, it has also been an undoubtable force for good and productivity in many areas.
One such positive application is AI in cybersecurity.
But what is AI in cybersecurity and how can we trust that it can help protect our businesses, our livelihoods? Let’s take a deep dive into the ways in which AI can strengthen your cybersecurity posture.
How is AI used in Cybersecurity?
The government’s National Cyber Security Centre defines AI as: Any computer system that can perform tasks usually requiring human intelligence. This could include visual perception, text generation, speech recognition or translation between languages.
More traditionally we may think this consists of automation of repetitive tasks. But with the advent of ChatGPT and large language models we increasingly associate it with more creative tasks. In cybersecurity it can be both.
What are some of the main Cybersecurity challenges that AI can help with?
As the world becomes more digitised, so does the complexity in defending against risk. SME businesses and charities may now have to:
- Protect dozens or even hundreds of endpoint devices, from smartphones and tablets to desktop computers
- A lack of in-house resource to cover all the threats
- Regular generic attacks testing your system perimeters
- Phishing attacks preying on gaps in staff awareness
- Huge volumes of data
Enter AI…
Specific uses of AI in cybersecurity
AI integrated within cybersecurity solutions can be your secret weapon against this broad range of threats – not a silver bullet, but something to tip the balance back in the favour of an SME business who would otherwise be exposed. Human oversight is still essential but AI can be excellent for:
Next-level threat detection
Because AI systems can interrogate large volumes of data very quickly, they are ideally placed for identifying patterns which reveal new and emerging threats in real-time, meaning you are protected early on.
Adaptive learning
More than just automation, modern AI can learn from what it experiences, continuously improving its performance and not standing still as new threats emerge.
Freeing up human resources
The larger the volume of analytics that the AI can perform, the greater the amount of time that your human experts (whether in-house or at an MSP or technology partner) can spend on strategic cybersecurity initiatives
Rapid response
Again, due to the speed at which they operate, AI systems can accelerate the response from the moment at which a threat is discovered to when remedial measures are put in place, minimising or even eliminating potential damage.
Filling staff gaps
We don’t like to see AI replacing jobs, but so quickly is the cybersecurity sector growing that there are not enough humans with the requisite skills to fill all the roles. AI can help plug the gaps so you are not left vulnerable.
AI and Cybersecurity at Nebula
At Nebula IT we pride ourselves on bringing SMEs the latest technologies to help them thrive and keep them safe. Cybersecurity is front and centre of this. We have a comprehensive range of solutions, but our cybersecurity services always start with a detailed conversation with you to find out what you need. If you would like to find out more about how we can help your organisation cost-effectively, please get in touch.