The conversation surrounding AI is an interesting one. On the one hand, people are concerned that AI will not be regulated properly and wind up being the end of us all. On the other hand, many people are excited about the possibilities AI could bring and the potential it serves several important industries.
The latter argument is probably the most likely. Despite the conversation only heating up in the last year or so, AI has been around for longer than people think, and businesses around the globe have already been utilising it safely within their own processes.
AI As A Cyber Security Tool
One of the ways in which businesses have been doing this - and one of the reasons AI is more of a blessing than a curse - is through cyber security. According to recent statistics, around 2,200 cyberattacks happen every day, which equates to 800,000 cyberattacks per annum.
Industries that are the most at risk include financial services, healthcare, retail, and even the gaming industry. However, AI provides a new way to fight the threat. Looking at the gaming industry specifically, the online market should be a prime target for data breaches and identity theft. With the help of AI, online casinos can detect fraudulent activities and eliminate them in real time.
The AI algorithm is spread across the board, too. One of the most forward-thinking online platforms, LeoVegas, installed new AI software to strengthen gambling messaging back in 2021, ensuring that their European roll-out remained secure and protected from hackers. And the most exciting thing is this company, and all the others, are only really scratching the surface of what the tech could achieve.
How Can AI Help Improve Cyber Security?
As of today, AI is helping cyber security in several different ways. For starters, it has the ability to handle a lot of data, making it easier to identify all of the cyber security threats businesses should be prepared for. It's also perfect for analysing exciting security measures and identifying weak points, which subsequently lets cyber security personnel focus on critical security tasks in the knowledge that all their systems are secure.
As well as this, AI can accelerate detection and response times, secure authentication, eliminate time-consuming tasks, and even identify and deploy honeypots to trap malicious bots.
In terms of the future, one of the best things about AI is that it can learn more about securing systems, identifying bots, and protecting software over time. It does this by utilising machine learning and deep learning techniques, identifying any security incidents and analysing the network's behaviour so it will know when even the slightest change is made. This will then allow companies to respond faster and block future threats before they have even become a threat.
When it comes to updating software, hackers learn very fast. But AI can learn even faster and, if given a chance, can always remain one step ahead of hackers.
How Important Is This For The Future?
The question of how important cyber security is to businesses can be answered with one simple statistic: 60% of small businesses that suffer a cyber attack go out of business within six months. That means that if a cybercriminal breaches the data of a small business, the likelihood is they will have to close their doors.
It's not just small businesses that are under threat. As mentioned before, industries around the world are vulnerable, so much so that cybercrime is set to cost the world around $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. That, in many ways, is why businesses have been welcoming AI tech with open arms. It's also the reason why the future of AI should be looked at in a positive light rather than a negative one.