A consistent concern for businesses is cyber security, and its one
that will not be going away in the near future. With more and more
innovations in technology occurring, it would seem as though cyber
threats are only going to increase as hackers find new ways to cause
chaos within an organisation. But what if the latest technological
advancements could actually help to reduce cyber crimes, rather than be
the threat?
Cyber resilience
A recent study by Accenture has shown the number of targeted cyber
attacks has doubled in the past year compared to the previous 12 months.
The increase has come despite there being improvements in blocking and
detecting cyber attacks. Accenture’s state of cyber resilience
study also highlighted organisations are faced with 30 cyber breaches
each year, which is a clear sign that greater investment in innovative
technologies to improve cyber resilience is needed.
Safeguarding against cyber attacks with new technologies
While it is promising to learn that organisations are preventing
attacks, according to Accenture, only two out of five are investing in
the latest technologies as a way of minimising their risk of being a
victim of a cyber attack.
Innovative technologies such as machine learning, artificial
intelligence (AI) and automation are key areas of investment surrounding
cyber resilience. AI – which is the notion of having machines learn and
think like humans – could help to prevent, detect and fix potential
threats. AI and machine learning could therefore assist security
experts with the additional workload posed by the rising risk of
attacks, as well as improve defences. With the skills gap that exists
within the IT security sector, AI could also offer a solution to this
lack of skilled workers through providing a more efficient and automated
way of completing tasks than manual workers.
Having a security infrastructure that uses such advanced technologies
is incredibly important for the future of organisations, especially
since such technologies will only get better as they continue to learn
and experience more and more. This means these machines can stay in line
with the latest cyber threats, detect them early and prevent them from
causing major damage and disruption to an organisation.