Growth Drivers | November 4, 2024

Cybersecurity and AI: Threats and Opportunities

AI has captured the imagination of people and organisations around the world. However, alongside its advancements, AI brings forth a myriad of security challenges that cannot be ignored.

AI as a tool for cybercriminals

As AI systems become increasingly sophisticated and pervasive, cybercriminals are harnessing its power to launch more sophisticated and targeted attacks.

For example, phishing emails have evolved from simple deceptive emails to ones that have become more advanced, harder to spot and significantly more dangerous. Attackers are also successful at using methods like deepfakes — a form of AI that can be used to create convincing hoax images, sounds and videos — to perpetrate fraud or manipulate an audience into action. 

And AI's adaptive nature is one of its most potent features in social engineering attacks, which manipulate people into giving away sensitive information or compromising security.  

By using AI in these attacks, cybercriminals can appear more credible and trustworthy, leading more victims to fall for fraud attempts or manipulation, which could lead to system compromise.

Empowering defenders at the speed of AI

At its heart, AI recognises patterns and abnormalities in massive datasets — that is why it is such an important component of modern cybersecurity.

For example, AI enhances threat detection through advanced pattern recognition and anomaly detection. Unlike traditional methods, AI can analyse vast amounts of data in real-time, identifying threats that might be missed by human analysts. This leads to faster incident response times and reduces the window of opportunity for cybercriminals. 

AI also enables predictive analytics, allowing businesses to anticipate and mitigate potential threats before they materialize. By analysing historical data and identifying trends, AI systems can provide insights into future attack vectors, enabling proactive defence strategies. 

For example, DXC is working with Microsoft product teams to help shape Microsoft Security Copilot: a generative AI-powered security solution that helps increase the efficiency and capabilities of defenders to improve security outcomes.

AI as a force multiplier

As organisations confront the complexities of escalating cyber threats, they need people with the right skills to protect their data and systems.  

The good news is AI can work as a force multiplier for smaller security teams, which gives organisations a better chance against the newest strains of cyber risk.  

This is not meant to replace valuable and scarce expertise, but rather augment it by using AI to support overtaxed security analysts, identity management professionals and incident responders who need to sort through an increasing amount of information to do their jobs. 

For example, the integration of AI in security operations centres automates repetitive and time-consuming tasks. AI can handle routine monitoring, data analysis, and initial incident responses, freeing up human analysts to focus on more complex issues and higher-value tasks.  

This not only increases efficiency but also improves the accuracy and reliability of security operations.