Page 102 - Cyber Defense eMagazine April 2021 Edition

o remain competitive and relevant in 2021 and ahead, cybersecurity vendors must leverage AI and
Tmachine learning. It’s a necessity because those technologies are both the cause of sophisticated
hacking efforts and the viable solution to combat those efforts. They’re already in play on both sides
of the equation. For example back in 2017, a team created an AI-driven tool that could quickly guess
the passwords of around a quarter of 43 million LinkedIn profile accounts. Hackers increasingly use
machine learning and AI to circumvent traditional cybersecurity safeguards, especially with increased
threats during COVID-19, which puts pressure on companies and technology providers to react with the
same tech. As we move into 2021, here are some of the security areas where we can anticipate AI’s role
to expand and evolve.

AI Integrated into Antivirus and Authentication Systems

AI can play a role with antivirus programs by learning the ways a system should normally operate. Then
if a malware program reaches the network and starts accessing various systems, the antivirus programs
recognize this as an anomalous action and blocks the program. It’s a familiar machine learning pattern
of understanding the normal state of a system and then spotting odd behaviors.

102 Cyber Defense eMagazine – April 2021 Edition
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