How are the latest trends increasing demand for Data Scientists?
February 9th, 2023
X
Latest news
How AI and ML is helping to protect us from the dark side of the internet
Intro
In today’s era technology advancements has allowed humans to achieve so much. With the rise of the internet has triggered a shift in society whereby we rely heavily on the global system. We can go further than the creation of the internet with innovations in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) and how they are having an impact on making cyberspace safe from cyber crime.
The Internet
The internet consisting of many different networks and material has initiated a life where we have been introduced to new ways of interacting. The internet is now that established could it be our preferred medium of communication? Is there anything you cannot do on the internet?
Booking holidays, ordering food, working is just a sample of where we are at.
The more we use it, the bigger it has become and the harder it is to control, which unfortunately has led to a darker side with some user’s intentions to cause a threat to users/companies’ systems and the content they upload.
Hackers are more common than ever and are the greatest threat to any company or user. Anyone who uses the internet is susceptible to threat with hackers finding clever ways to steal and change information for their own gain.
Disappointingly it will continue to evolve and get incredibly worse, with cybercrime damages projecting to exceed to $6 trillion by 2021.
So, what is out there to protect us from cyber-attacks?
Cyber Security
Cyber Security’s purpose is to protect computer systems from unauthorised access. Having a security infrastructure that will provide protection to those that use the internet. With data being the most valuable source in today’s world, having multiple layers of protection for your company’s network is essential.
There is software out there to help with protecting you and your business from any threat or unauthorised activity. From firewalls, anti-virus and password management tools that have enabled some kind of layer to outsmart any unexpected use. But is that enough?
Why is it essential to be protected?
With smartphones, the internet and every other gadget being such a major part of our lives, it is important to have certain procedures in place to prevent any risk to your data or privacy. We use the internet for work, banking, social media, and much more. There needs to be something preventing criminals from getting hold of our accounts and data.
A hacker could potentially destroy a company or individual, and something needs to be done about it. With the evolution of technology introducing barriers to try and prevent any threat it is difficult to figure out how it is happening and that is what cybercriminals take advantage of.
How is AI and ML helping in the fight against cyber-crime?
With technological advancements comes greater ways for hackers to try to access content they are not supposed to. So, as there are tools out there to make us less vulnerable when accessing the internet, we need to dig a little deeper and find clever ways in fighting this crime and adding AI and ML to the mix will give us the best shot.
It has been reported that there are not enough cybersecurity staff in the industry, so AI can help to fill the gap and aim to improve cybersecurity.
Innovations in ML and AI have enabled us to rely heavily on them as they accede to what we can do as humans. Allowing them to identify and react to suspicious activity almost immediately could prevent any issues going forward for users. They have the skills to analyse every cyber incident and draw upon any information that is likely to help block out any attack.
AI-based tools have the ability to track users on a daily basis, allowing them to learn from their behaviour and analyse every bit of information and click they go through. It can also detect irregularities in either users or any unknown activity and react appropriately when necessary.
Threat intelligence
With the cybersecurity industry facing many challenges, questions need to be answered and having a system to look for a solution is something that is needed. With data being produced every second of every day there needs to be technology to address each and every issue as there is a shortage of skilled professionals.
Introducing threat intelligence into cybersecurity will add value and an extra layer of security to anyone and everyone
So, what is Threat Intelligence?
Threat Intelligence generates and analyses the past events, the present and possible attacks that can be a real threat to a business. This information goes into specifics such as the hackers IP address, domain, and URLs they have used.
An organisation uses threat intelligence solutions to gather raw data to analyse and gain an understanding on the threats they may encounter or have. Therefore, allowing companies to make faster, and more strategic decisions to fight against any menacing behaviour.
With any other tool, it will create data and its done, threat intelligence goes further and has a cycle to collect data, process it and then analyse it. There is no end to end process, with threat intelligence having a more structured cycle.
It is important to note that even though AI is being introduced to overcome cybercrime it can sometimes get it wrong. Humans build these tools and algorithms so there is a possibility the tools can be programmed incorrectly. Success comes from them learning over time and will eventually stay ahead of any threats.
Summary
Fundamentally, threats and cyber crime will continue to grow, and hackers will continue to try and outsmart the restrictions that are put in place. To try and minimise this risk and tackle cybercrime is to become more proactive and keep employing AI into the mix to identify patterns and apply restrictions where necessary.
The more the business world transforms into a more digital setting, storing data on the cloud will become more common heightening the risk of hackers attempting to access it. Having preventions in place is a start but most common risk management practices are lagging security requirements. Implementing threat intelligence is one way to do just that and have the security more intensified to help better protect each and every user of the internet.
KDR Recruitment is the home of the best data, technology and analytics jobs. For more data industry news and views check out the KDR blog or follow KDR on LinkedIn.
