Top Artificial Intelligence-Based Tools For Cyber Security

By Pushpa Baraik

n today’s world, everyone is benefitting from internet connectivity. Just a click is enough to know about the whereabouts of a distant friend or the location of aliens(I know you cannot). But at the same time, We as a user are at risk to savvy cyber criminals who are constantly adapting their techniques to sneak into critical systems. As an internet user, there is always a limitation on what you want to tell people about yourself publicly. Imagine you wake up and find that everyone knows about your medical condition that you wanted to keep private. It is a breach of your data, right ??.

Similarly, every entity wants its systems strong enough to block illegal attempts of cyber-criminals. These systems include defense, power plants, hospitals, and financial service companies prone to cyber-attacks that provide essential services to society. In the news, you must have heard cyber attacks are launched more often against countries that have differences among themselves and use these tools as a weapon against each other. Hence, at least everyone should be familiar with the practices employed by the attackers to get into systems and cause jeopardy. A subfield of computer science called cybersecurity teaches us how to safeguard databases, computer systems, and networks against online assaults. 

Cybersecurity falls into five broad categories: Critical infrastructure security, Cloud security, Internet of Things security, Application Security, and Network Security. Let us know some common types of techniques used by the attackers.

Malware infection

Malware is malicious software developed to cause damage to a database or server and could force an illegal entry into your systems without your knowledge. It can be in the form of an erroneous attachment or specific links.

Ransomware attacks

Ransomware is a kind of malware where the user gets locked out of his files/systems. Then, the criminal demands money in exchange for access to the files. You must have heard about crypto-ransomware attacks.

Phishing Attacks

Emails or links are designed to inspire you to answer the credentials like passwords/ bank details. That’s it, and Hackers make payments or get access to the systems and vanish in thin air. Other types include smishing, vishing, etc., based on the nature of attacks.

Social Engineering

Often you have received calls from spam numbers impersonating themselves as an official. They obtain basic details from digital media. People outright manipulate others to reveal personal information.

I hope till now you have got some basic idea about cyber-security threats. Let’s see how AI can help us to protect against spoof and sophisticated attacks done by cyber-criminals and will know some of the AI tools used against such attacks. According to a global survey released by Pillsbury, an international law firm, 49% of its executives think AI is the best tool to counter nation-state cyber attacks. It also predicts that cybersecurity-related AI spending will increase at a CAGR of 24% through 2027 and reach a market value of $46 billion. Its applications include classification algorithms for early malware and spam detection, abnormality in malicious traffic or user behaviors, and correlation algorithms that connect signals from disparate systems.

Some use cases of AI in cybersecurity include spotting zero-day malware using AI and ML techniques that can analyze malware based on intrinsic characteristics rather than signatures. If the software is designed to encrypt many files at once rapidly, that’s suspicious behavior. Suppose it takes steps to hide from observation. That’s another sign that the software isn’t legitimate. It can help identify and prioritize threats and sometimes take automated actions to solve security issues quickly. From startups to government entities, All are spending their best on cybersecurity because once a professional criminal breaches your data, trust is lost, which could hamper enterprise brand value. Intelligent automation can care for these problems when appropriate, helping companies deal with a shortage of qualified cybersecurity professionals.