While artificial intelligence can be misused by bad actors to create more sophisticated attacks, it can also help organizations defend against these attacks. How? Read on to learn about the dual nature of artificial intelligence, and how it can be used for good in your organization to enhance your cybersecurity posture.

Artificial Intelligence Changes Threat Landscape

With all of AI’s potential, it can be used for good or for ill. Threats can become more sophisticated, including:

• Phishing: AI can be used to design highly sophisticated phishing schemes, causing an email to appear to be from a CEO authorizing actions that can result in fraud. Moreover, the usual tell-tale signs of a phishing email (like grammar and typographical errors) are eliminated, making the email seem legitimate.

• Deep Fakes: Artificial intelligence can be used to construct fake videos from audio and video clips, making a person appear to say something they never said. Your company could experience reputational damage as a result.

• Employees may unintentionally leak private or confidential information through rogue AI.

How Artificial Intelligence Can Enhance Your  Cybersecurity Posture

Even with this daunting picture, artificial intelligence also has potential for good, by bolstering cybersecurity. Since its models are trained on vast amounts of data, it automatically scans for threats with an efficiency that surpasses mere human effort. By analyzing data quickly, It can detect threats early, and keep a small abnormality from becoming a security incident. Should an attack occur, IT staff can mitigate the damage quickly.

Employee Education and Training Still Needed

According to an article by CompTIA, data collection and AI algorithms are becoming a cornerstone of cybersecurity. Even with AI’s immense power, human intervention and education are still necessary. For instance, workers will still need to know how to recognize a phishing email and follow procedures to prevent its consequences. Human oversight is still needed on the part of IT professionals who can evaluate AI’s results. Every employee still needs training in cybersecurity, since many security incidents result from human error. 

With artificial intelligence becoming central in cybersecurity, its potential is exciting. Yet, companies need to consider how big a role it will have in their business. For further guidance, contact your trusted technology advisor today.