Network Security Automation is Getting Smarter

Researchers are always on the lookout for the latest and greatest in network security technology, and artificial intelligence is one of them. While it has the potential to be a major benefit to your business’ network security, it does so at a steep cost. Is there a way to meet somewhere in the middle?

First, it’s important to understand why A.I. might seem like the answer.

Why is A.I. So Appealing?
You would think that relying on automated systems to protect a network would be less than ideal, but there are a lot of reasons why technology specialists find it such an attractive prospect. For one, there is presently a significant lack of IT expertise in today’s modern business world. This makes it difficult to find workers who are technically skilled enough to provide adequate network security. Furthermore, with more devices connecting to the Internet than ever before, the idea of making network security and threat detection automated through the use of A.I. and algorithms seems like the right call. It makes the jobs of your in-house IT department much easier, but at what cost?

There are many reasons why artificial intelligence for network security should be approached with caution. Here are a few of them.

Consider How Threats Are Detected by A.I.
In order for artificial intelligence to detect threats, it somehow has to be taught how to recognize them. While machine learning can help it better determine the nature of threats over time, the point stands that it must be taught how to initially recognize the good from the bad. The MIT Technology Review explains, in this way, that A.I. is “trained” to detect threats based on tags assigned to specific data sets, which can be reverse-engineered by malware developers to create threats that are more difficult to identify by automated systems.

Over-Reliance on a Single Method
This segues into the next point quite nicely, as with only a single method of detecting threats, A.I. is particularly vulnerable. Imagine that your office has hired a single security guard to keep watch over the front door at night. You don’t have any other guards on-site in the building itself, and no security cameras to alert the local authorities should anything happen that’s not expected. While this is great for that particular entry point, it makes the entire system vulnerable if it’s compromised. Basically, if you rely on only a single platform to detect and eliminate threats, you are exposed if that system is unable to ascertain a certain threat.

Does your business want to optimize security? EZ MSP can help. To learn more, reach out to us at (914) 595-2250.