There is no doubt that AI has been a game-changer in the world of cybersecurity in recent years. According to a report, 74% of security leaders consider AI-powered threats as a significant issue, while 89% believe that AI-powered threats will not just be a challenge for the next couple of years but will extend into the foreseeable future.
At the same time, though, with cyberattacks becoming increasingly sophisticated and frequent, AI-driven solutions offer a proactive and effective approach to safeguarding against these threats.
This is possible through advanced threat detection capabilities and predictive defenses against cybercrime.
In short, AI plays a two-pronged role when it comes to cybersecurity in 2024: attack and defense.
In this article, we explore the role of AI from both perspectives but focus on how you can secure your organization by leveraging AI to enhance its threat intelligence and implement proactive security measures.
Language Models for Cybersecurity Analytics
In cybersecurity, large language models are useful for detecting and classifying malware by analyzing vast amounts of text data, including security logs.
In this and many other ways, they aid in threat detection and response. However, the general-purpose nature of public LLMs limits their effectiveness in cybersecurity, which is a complex and dynamic field.
As a result of this, security teams are increasingly turning to smaller, domain-specific language models, such as SecureBERT that offer the kind of specialization they need. Such models understand the intricacies of malware behavior, network anomalies, and threat intelligence that are peculiar to the organization deploying them.
However, perhaps the most important feature of private language models is that they ensure that sensitive data remains within the organization. For organizations that can afford to deploy them, these custom models can provide insights that are highly relevant to their threat landscape without the risk of spilling anything to public creators.
Generative AI-powered Threats
With the rise of generative AI, malicious actors have also found new ways to launch more sophisticated attacks without detection. For instance, hackers can use generative AI to create self-evolving malware that can evade detection by generating unique variations with polymorphic code.
Also, generative AI works for crafting highly convincing phishing emails, social engineering messages, and deepfake media that are tailored to specific targets.
Attackers can create adaptive content, mimicking the expected writing style and tone of individuals and organizations, in real-time based on a recipient’s responses.
Additionally, specialized malicious generative AI tools have been developed with the sole purpose of enabling cyberattacks. WormGPT and FraudGPT, for instance, are blackhat counterparts to the popular ChatGPT; they are used to facilitate various cyberattacks, especially business email compromise attacks.
Global Cybersecurity Skills Shortage
We have already identified how AI is enabling a fast-rising threat landscape. The global cybersecurity industry would have been able to mitigate these challenges better, but the fact that there is a persistent cybersecurity skills gap has left organizations vulnerable to cyber threats.
According to reports, there are an estimated 4 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs globally. The reality of the challenge lies in the fact that specialized knowledge is required in various aspects of cybersecurity in 2024, such as threat intelligence, incident response, vulnerability management, etc.
Without skilled professionals, risk exacerbates.
Despite this, AI can be a force for mitigating some of the problems with the skills shortage; It acts as a force multiplier, enabling teams to cover more ground and respond to threats more quickly and more efficiently.
Security Operations Automation
Expanding on the deployment of AI automation in cybersecurity in 2024, AI-driven security automation enables the analysis of large amounts of data from across an organization’s infrastructure, including networks, clouds, and endpoints.
The end goal is to be able to recognize signs of malicious activity, especially potential threats that human analysts might miss. The AI system can thereafter isolate threats by user, device, or location, and trigger notifications, escalations, and remediation measures.
This, in essence, will make human agents more productive as it’ll cut the bulk of initial work in half for them.
Security automation tools like extended detection and response (XDR); security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR); and AI for IT operations (AIOps) are key to this process, helping to coordinate and execute security tasks automatically, ultimately enabling faster threat detection and response.
Scaling Up Traditional Cybersecurity Measures
The end of the discussion is that traditional cybersecurity measures are no longer sufficient in light of current threats.
Consider signature-based systems, for instance. Relying on known malicious code patterns makes them ineffective against new or modified threats. Advanced AI-driven malware can alter its signature with each iteration, easily bypassing traditional detection methods.
Therefore, we have more zero-day exploits now, which take advantage of unknown vulnerabilities, making it impossible for traditional systems to detect and mitigate them preemptively.
Manual processes for identifying and responding to zero-day vulnerabilities can be too slow to prevent exploitation.
In light of all these, it’s essential to mitigate these threats by focusing on proactiveness, speed, accuracy, and efficiency. You can scale up your competencies in various areas of cybersecurity in 2024 by adopting AI-powered security measures.
Take Charge of Your Cybersecurity in 2024
As a leader, you are responsible for protecting your organization by taking cybersecurity seriously.
Cyberattacks are no longer what they used to be; therefore, your cybersecurity defenses must also step up. You need to be able to provide direction by updating yourself on the goings-on in relevant industries and leveraging expert insights to chart a path forward for your organization.
Whether in cybersecurity or other areas, one place you are sure to find forward-thinking insights for organizational leadership success is StartUp Growth Guide. Follow us on all platforms and subscribe to our email newsletter to stay ahead of the curve.
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