As cyber threats become more sophisticated, advanced cybersecurity measures can be a game-changer in detecting, preventing, and responding to attacks with greater efficiency and accuracy.
Grown through the acquisition of trusted technologies including Carbonite and Webroot, OpenText Cybersecurity is unique in its breadth of cybersecurity product coverage, and the integrated simplicity with which it delivers cybersecurity solutions to the full spectrum of its partners and customers. We sat down with Woody Director of Solutions Consulting at OpenText, a leading cybersecurity vendor, to gain valuable insights into the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity and its intricate relationship with AI.
How do you see the role of AI evolving in the future of cybersecurity?
“Artificial Intelligence, in all its forms, is already significantly impacting the cybersecurity sector. AI will improve the overall effectiveness of our defensive capabilities by removing resource constraints, human error and fatigue. Handling more data and being more accurate will provide rapid and relevant detection, remediation and decision-making in the IT environment.
However, threat actors will also weaponise these same technologies against us to gain the upper hand in the arms race, leading to more accurate targeting, more effective infiltration, exfiltration, extortion and evasion.
Cybersecurity has always been a game of cat and mouse between the criminals and the professionals on the side of governments, businesses and the general public. The explosion of AI capabilities has upped the ante, and those who don’t react will get caught. So long as good keeps the pace of evil, we expect the status quo to remain in balance. A balance that will indeed become less predictable when Artificial General Intelligence (SkyNet) and the consensual domain technologies eclipse our basic computing models.”
Can AI be used to enhance cybersecurity measures? If yes/no, why?
“Yes, definitely. AI will dramatically speed up the analysis of massive data sets and then surfaces only those events that warrant human intervention to users. This detection speed frees up valuable people resources that can be re-aligned to threat-hunting and remediation activities.”
Do you incorporate AI technologies in your cybersecurity solutions and practices at OpenText Cybersecurity?
“Yes, we do. For several years, OpenText has used machine learning in our Bright Cloud Threat research capability and Webroot Data Security services. We have machine learning and analytics engines in our detection and response platforms that deliver high degrees of efficacy in event correlation.”
Will AI replace the role of the cyber security analyst?
“Not in the short to medium term. Many AI technologies serve to simplify the tasks of security in the IT environment. Some of the critical capabilities piquing our interest are:
- Machine Intelligence: This allows us to process, interpret and analyse data in massive volumes at compute speed. OpenText has been deploying Machine Intelligence for over a decade to help identify cyber threats and attack vectors.
- Predictive analytics: Identifying variances in security telemetry data in real-time can deliver an early warning system into a cyber security solution, increasing the speed of detection and remediation.
- Neural Networking: The ability for a system to take action with a high degree of accuracy based on complex decision-making trees greatly reduces the reliance on human resources. Equally, evaluating when a human should be alerted helps to expedite detection and remediation actions.
- Large Language Models: Something OpenText is actively working on today is the inclusion of human-like interfaces to complex systems and data sets. Being able to query across multiple data sets in natural language provides for near-instantaneous responses for insight-based decision-making.”
How will the role of the security analyst change and realign?
“Once the benefits of AI start to surface in real-world production environments, the cybersecurity expert will have scope to focus on more valuable tasks such as system tuning, threat hunting and system hardening.
I think that the security expert in any organisation also has a valuable role in changing the employees’ mindset from one of the “passive” users to one where the employee becomes an “active” contributor to the overall security posture of the business. This spokesperson role is an example of how these valuable resources can be re-trained and re-assigned to areas of the company which are woefully underappreciated today.
A notable side-effect of this change will be that the best cyber experts will be enticed away from those organisations that refuse to adapt, and a skills gap will open up. Business leaders will need to adopt tactics to hold onto those resources.”
As the world advances, the significance of AI in the realm of cybersecurity cannot be overstated. Its potential to reshape the landscape of digital defence has led to increased discussions about its role in safeguarding critical infrastructures, businesses, and individuals alike. The ever-evolving technology of AI offers immense promise in changing cybersecurity measures, driving innovation, and shaping the digital future.
Want more information on OpenText Cybersecurity Solutions? Contact a member of the Exertis Cybersecurity team today at securitysales@exertis.co.uk
