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Earlier the cyberthreats were confined to phishing emails, data breaches, and hardcore hacking. But with technological advancement, especially with the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning, cyber-attacks have become more advanced, innovative, and sophisticated. It becomes too late for the victim to realize a scam/fraud in case they are targeted. While these technologies have also helped reinforce cybersecurity measures, they have been tremendously helping malicious actors as well. Now AI Professionals have helped devise some great AI tools that are assisting in making cybersecurity defense stronger. On the other hand, there are many AI tools that have been proven to be very handy for cyber-attackers.
Here, let us try to find out the impact of artificial intelligence and machine learning on Cybersecurity and explore what the future holds for it.
How Cyber-attackers can misuse this technology?
While AI and ML technology can be powerful tools for the cybersecurity defense system of the organization, they can also be misused by malicious actors in several ways to commit cyber crimes. Here are some ways to do that:
- Create more targeted and sophisticated cyber-attacks
With the help of AI and ML technology, a large amount of data can be analyzed to identify vulnerabilities and patterns of behavior of users that can be easily exploited by attackers. If there are targeted attacks happening then it will be difficult for organizations to defend against such attacks.
- Automate attacks
Scanning of vulnerabilities, sending phishing emails, launching DDoS attacks, etc. can be automated with the help of artificial intelligence and machine learning tools. This will help cyber-criminals to launch large-scale attacks in a short span of time.
- Evade detection
Now there are several free and paid AI courses available that can help these malicious actors gain AI skills and techniques to evade detection by security systems thus making it more difficult for organizations to contain cyber-attacks.
Sounds scary, right? But organizations don’t need to worry. We have already heard the victory of good over evil and so is the case with cybersecurity too. Now let us check out how, as a cybersecurity professional, you can learn industry-relevant skills, and protect your organization with the help of AI and ML technology.
Role of AI and ML Technology in Defending cyber-threats
- AI-Powered Threat Detection and Prevention
The first and foremost step in preventing cyber threats is to identify and neutralize them promptly. AI and ML algorithms are a great way to analyze huge amounts of data including network traffic, user activity logs, and endpoint behavior which can be very useful in detecting anomalies and suspicious patterns that indicate cyber-attacks.
These tools can also help to continuously monitor the malware signatures, zero-day attacks, and other upcoming cyber-threat trends thus helping in providing real-time insights.
- Automated Incident Response and Mitigation
If the cybersecurity or AI professionals respond promptly in case there is any cyber-attack, then a lot of damage can be minimized and normal operations can be restored. AI and ML technology play an important role in minimizing human interference and automating incident response processes. Thus, it helps in rapid containment and mitigation of threats.
These intelligent systems can automatically isolate compromised systems, block malicious IP addresses, and quarantine suspicious files.
- Continuous Security Improvement and Threat Intelligence
AI and ML tools and technologies empower cybersecurity teams to continuously improve their defense by analyzing huge amounts of data and help them identify trends, patterns, and new kinds of threats.
The continuous threat intelligence systems help organizations to proactively address vulnerabilities, formulate updated security policies, and develop strategies to defend against rising cyber-attacks.
Make a Positive Impact with your AI and ML Skills
As the world progresses, the use of AI and ML technology will also increase for both defense and attack. So, if you choose to contribute positively to defending organizations from various kinds of cybersecurity threats, then an AI career or cybersecurity career will be the perfect choice for you.
You can take advantage of the best AI certification courses to learn the AI skills to design and develop new tools that can help strengthen organizations’ cybersecurity measures by identifying and preventing attacks. Or you can choose to learn cybersecurity skills and contribute directly to combating cyber-criminals.
Here are some of the best AI and ML certification programs to help you gain the required skills:
- Google AI Engineering Professional Certificate
- Certified Artificial Intelligence Engineer (CAIE™): USAII®
- Professional Certificate in Computer Science for Artificial Intelligence: Harvard
- IBM Applied AI Professional Certificate
Also, you can check out some cybersecurity certifications as well if you want to go for a cybersecurity career and learn the core cybersecurity skills.
Conclusion
AI and ML are rapidly growing technologies that have wide applications across all industries and cybersecurity is no exception. As any technology has both pros and cons, so do the use of AI and ML which is equally used by cybersecurity professionals to defend their organization and by cyber-attackers to breach organizations’ security. In the future, we will see great advancement and development of tools and techniques to mitigate any kind of attack.