Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all the rage among developers now—and for a reason. The endless potential it shows is practically unrivaled by other technologies. Capable of automating tasks, provide deep insights from large datasets, and assisting in complex tasks, AI is currently booming, and many industries are using AI-based solutions for a myriad of uses and in countless contexts
It’s only natural, then, that companies of all sizes and across industries are turning to AI to address their biggest concern: security. Artificial intelligence could be the key to prevent attacks, protect sensitive data, and reduce privacy risks. In fact, many businesses are seeing things that way, to the point that they are working with IT outsourcing services to come up with tailor-made solutions.
From that work, experts are developing and imagining new ways in which AI could help with business security. Here’s how it could help yours.
1 – Analyzing big data to detect threats
As with all systems, any cybersecurity system produces a lot of data. From tracking accesses from different users to recording specific actions regarding certain files, a modern robust system is capable of gathering a massive amount of information. The problem, as you can imagine, is that it’s impossible for any human team to sort all of that data out in order to gain some security insights. That’s why more and more companies outsource development to get AI-powered systems.
These advanced systems would track all activity and learn to differentiate normal behavior (such as traffic patterns and user logins) from suspicious activities (such as users trying to access sensitive files at unusual times or for which they don’t have access). Detecting such an activity could trigger an action or a warning that could thwart the attack quickly and without human intervention.
The best thing about a system like this is that it could learn to protect your business with a higher level of accuracy the more time it runs. That’s thanks to the use of machine learning , a method that refines its activities the more data it processes.
2 – Predicting issues and vulnerabilities
One of the main advantages you could get with an AI-based software is that it could evaluate your security level in real-time and around the clock. In other words, such software wouldn’t just let you know whenever an attack is happening but could also give you insights about your whole security structure, pointing out vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malicious actors.
This can be done through the analysis of all the gathered data through predictive analysis. Thus, the system could automatically check all endpoints through which all of the data flows “understanding” how it does so. This could trigger warnings whenever data doesn’t behave as expected, even when it doesn’t come up as a known threat.
Teaming up that predictive analysis with a team of experienced security professionals could really improve your business security, as the experts could have better data to understand what’s going in the systems and act accordingly – even when nothing bad necessarily happened.
3 – Creating conditional authentication
You’ve surely done it yourself: you went to your home or to a café near the office to chill out while you work. There’s no issue with doing so, as your company allows remote access to authorized people. However, there’s a slight problem with that—your business’ systems could be compromised using the same network you’re using to connect with it. The higher clearance you have, the higher the risk you’re exposing your system to.
Partnering with a software outsourcing company that specializes in AI could prevent that. That’s because they could work on a cybersecurity solution to create a dynamic authentication system that grants access depending on certain conditions. In other words, your access privileges could change depending on the network you’re using or the location from which you’re trying to log in.
The basis for this is the multi-factor authentication technology found in AI systems. Through it, the software gathers data about the user and analyzes everything about it, from the application and device they are using to the location from where they are accessing. All of that information is evaluated to automatically change your privileges to prevent unauthorized accesses.
4 – Embracing biometric logins
The most vulnerable link in any security chain is always the people that use them. In fact, most cyber attacks, breaches, and leaks exploit human errors to be successful. Do you know what’s one of the most common errors? Using weak passwords. People don’t like passwords, especially strong ones: they are long, have multiple characters, and are hard to remember. That’s why many users choose to use simple passwords or even the same ones they use for other services.
That practice puts the entire system at risk. Fortunately, AI can come to your rescue through biometric login methods. You’ve probably know a couple of those, most likely the fingerprint scan that comes with several modern devices. But AI promises to take this approach further by combining the scan of fingerprints, retina, palm prints, and faces. In that way, system access couldn’t be compromised, as only authorized individuals could log in.
Biometric logins are getting more robust, too. There are teams working on advanced AI systems capable of detecting whenever a person is under stress or doesn’t show normal patterns of conduct. This could mean that the individual trying to access a system is being forced, which could trigger a warning to the police force or block the access entirely.
Some last words
As businesses rely more and more on digital platforms, security has become an essential asset. That’s why so many companies understand that investing in AI-systems could be the solution they’ve always wanted. That got them reaching out to companies with all kinds of software outsourcing models to get their own tailor-made approach to protection.
The best thing about it? AI is already proving to be a great ally to protect data and systems. It can detect unusual behavior patterns, identify existing vulnerabilities, and protect individual accesses, be them on-site or remote. And that’s just the beginning. As AI and all of its subsets become more and more advanced, expect to see more powerful solutions to fight cyber attacks, the biggest problem for businesses across all industries.
