While AI rapidly gains dominance across various industries worldwide, its hype can, at times, blind people from its basic features that are responsible for its widespread success. Artificial intelligence basically has the ability to assimilate information and ingest incredible amounts of data.

It can also learn and develop new patterns due to its reasoning system, thus showing growth in its cognitive abilities to grow over a passage of time. This is why using AI to augment cybersecurity seems like a natural choice.

According to a recent Zion Market Research report, the AI cybersecurity market is projected to reach $30.9 billion by 2025, with a CAGR of more than 23.4% between the years 2019-2025. Furthermore, a lot of renowned names across the planet are already taking huge strides to bring greater AI for the use of the public, including Acalvio, BAE Systems, Cisco Systems, FireEye, Cylance, IBM, Intel, and RSA Security, to name a few.

In light of this information, let’s take a quick look at some of the ways AI can help boost cybersecurity for businesses.

 

1.   Analytics for Data & So Much More

Perhaps one of the biggest factors that make AI prime suspect to be used for warding off threats is its ability to perform data analytics, crunch numbers, and patterns at an incredible pace, and develop practices on its own that can further help it to discover threats.

One of the best examples of this technology being utilized in real-life situations is SAP NS2, which uses data analytics and fusion technologies from SAP. SAP NS2 then applies what it has accumulated and learned to deploy cybersecurity measures that are being used by a number of US security agencies and corporations.

Implementing AI and ML (machine learning) technology thus helps national security officials process troves of data and deliver a robust system to protect sensitive information being transmitted from various locations.

 

2.   Detecting Loopholes

Another significant advantage of using AI for cybersecurity is that it has a tremendous appetite for consuming tons and heaps loads of data. This voracious hunger for new information, along with its ability to process through mountains of organized information, AI is able to attach itself to a database or integrate itself with a system to detect loopholes in a relentless manner.

Darktrace over here stands out as a prime example. Founded in 2013 by a group of mathematicians from the University of Cambridge along with support from cyber intelligence experts of the US and the UK government, it is capable of detecting loopholes.

By using the power of automation, Darktrace’s Enterprise Immune System and Darktrace Antigena platforms are able to identify a diverse range of threats in the early stages.

 

3.   Predicting Threats

Knowing a threat that already exists within the system is pretty much what AI should be capable of to make it worth an investment in the first place. However, AI doesn’t stop there. In fact, it has the ability to grow, learn, increase its pool of knowledge, and develop new patterns.

Thus, with the passage of time, AI showcases a dynamic ability to improve itself further and therefore exhibits a close behavior to that of a living entity.

Hence, with AI supporting your cybersecurity systems, it can help the organization predict future attacks and possible risky situations that can be avoided in the current time to ensure the organization’s overall safety and intellectual properties.

One fine example of this is BlackBerry’s Cylance, which aims to prevent threats before they infiltrate company systems and cause them damage.

 

4.   Quick Response

A threat to security or a vulnerability that can be exploited can be a huge concern for businesses. With an inability to respond quickly, many ventures out there can suffer millions of dollars in damages due to a security concern. This is where AI can jump in a save the day.

Not only does it help to keep the system clean, have a proactive attitude towards threat analysis, but it is also able to empower security systems to respond to any intimidations from an attacker or source quickly.

FireEye Helix Security Operations Platform is an excellent intelligence service that can be used to protect customers from cyber threats. Its centralized infrastructure imbued with AI can automate both human and systematic responses to threats

 

5.   Running Tests

AI, as mentioned earlier, doesn’t tire and is able to run tests to adapt to a rapidly changing ecosystem continuously. Not only does it keep learning new patterns, but it is also capable of running its own pilot tests to keep users informed and up to date regarding the current situation regarding cybersecurity.

Check Point® is one company that does this in style. Instead of a singular AI-based management product, it instead utilizes three different AI-driven platforms to contribute towards augmenting any business’s security system. One of the platforms known as Campaign Hunting is specifically tasked with keeping the system up to date using the latest attack vectors and defense strategies.

 

6.   Studying Unusual Activity

In a network where everything is connected, businesses need a watchtower or a lookout that keeps an eye on anything unusual or some activity that isn’t appropriate. Guess what AI empowers cybersecurity systems to do exactly that and keep authorized figures within a company informed if the systems are detecting some unusual or unauthorized activity.

Fortinet is a prime example here since its AI-based Self-Evolving Detection System (SEDS) does exactly this. Along with its unified threat management, Fortinet is able to offer workplaces with endpoint protection, access protection, and application monitoring solutions.

 

7.   Unlocking New Potentials

Apart from current AI applications in cybersecurity, it is important to understand here that new potentials will definitely be unlocked in the coming years as the technology progresses. Right now, we are simply skimming through the surface of simply how potent AI can be, and there is still a lot of room for further developments.

 

Conclusion

There is a myriad of security contexts out there where companies, enterprises, and government bodies are working on at the moment. AI, no doubt, holds a tremendous opportunity to discover new and rediscover better ideas and notions that can augment cybersecurity to the next level.

Our current ecosystem is rapidly evolving due to the expanse technology brings with progress happening all around us. Therefore, AI is seemingly a reasonable and sensible response to cybercriminals’ existing threats to protect against fraud and other criminal activities.

 

Samantha Kaylee currently works as an Assistant Editor at Crowd Writer, a platform that receives and fulfills hundreds of write my essay requests daily.