Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most discussed topics today, with feelings ranging from concern to enthusiasm, and wild speculation the order of the day.
Some believe it could cure the most feared diseases and stop climate change, while others imagine the worst: it could cause the oceans to boil and kill the human race.
The truth is probably neither of these extremes, but rather a mixture of what lies in between – and if harnessed correctly, this presents immense opportunities in many areas, believes Tony Anscombe, chief evangelist of security at ESET.
Reframing the fear
“Fear of new technologies is not unusual,” says Anscombe. “Going back in history to the Industrial Revolution, there was huge concern that technologies such as steam engines and industrial automation would remove the need for people working in manual jobs – and, of course, this has happened to some extent. But we have also evolved; we started doing more interesting things or other work related to new technology. While this has changed some jobs, it has also created new opportunities.
The case is much the same for AI. Some jobs will be automated, others will be partially automated and still require human intervention afterwards, still others will go in the completely opposite direction. For example, there has been a massive movement to outsource helplines and replace them with cheaper services or automate parts of the process. But businesses realized that this could cause more problems than the savings: customers want to speak to someone local, with a local accent and local knowledge.
“Now there is a movement to localize these services again. “So while there will be some automation in many areas, I don’t think it will be as bad as most people think right now.”
Using AI in Cybersecurity
When it comes to cybersecurity, the role of artificial intelligence (AI) has become indispensable, particularly when it comes to detecting, investigating and responding to threats. ESET has harnessed the power of AI and human expertise for decades to provide real-world solutions that address dynamic cybersecurity challenges.
“AI can play a central role in strengthening threat detection and prevention by analyzing large data sets in real time, quickly identifying patterns and anomalies that indicate new threats and security vulnerabilities. Integrated into protection solutions, AI can improve threat detection and response capabilities, improve threat awareness and accessibility to services such as threat intelligence and threat hunting, all helping to better protection, thereby preventing advanced attacks,” says Anscombe.
But even with its advanced capabilities, AI still needs – and is perhaps both limited and enhanced by – humans pulling the strings, he adds. “High-quality training results in high-quality AI models. AI-based security, without expert human oversight, could deteriorate over time or be manipulated by bad actors. Frequent updates and expert human oversight are essential.
And the same principle applies on the other side of the coin. AI can be used very effectively by malicious actors who leverage this technology to generate convincing spam and scam campaigns, improve their social engineering, evade detection and monitoring, and even debug and optimize malware .
But AI is also not capable of completely replacing an intelligent human adversary, especially when it comes to performing complex accompanying tasks, such as devising an effective attack chain or generating new codes sophisticated malware.
“It is clear that AI can and will change the world, but as the field of cybersecurity has shown, understanding AI is the best way to harness it. Don’t fear AI: instead, gain knowledge by discovering its benefits and how to use it, but also its limitations and potential risks. As with most things in life, a balanced approach is essential,” says Anscombe.
