AI's Growing Cyber Role in the Virtual World

By aggregating vast quantities of data and uncovering subtle patterns, AI can reduce the cognitive burden on human cyber professionals and help create more resilient organizations. Cyber threats have long tested the resilience of organizations around the world, but the growing shift to virtual ways of working is dramatically altering the threat landscape, with the potential for greater risks than ever. Increasingly, AI can provide valuable assistance, not only in the race to detect new threats or the spread of new diseases, but also to uncover threat actors and criminal groups taking maximum advantage of the situation to target cyber vulnerabilities, according to Deborah Golden, U.S. cyber practice leader at Deloitte & Touche LLP. "Cyber is everywhere, and the gap in cyber talent remains a challenge," Golden said. "Adversaries can try thousands of times to attack any one cyber vulnerability, but they only need to be right once; in the fight against these threats, organizations need to be right every single time. Now, with so many people working remotely, many for the first time, the risks to data, systems, and networks are further compounded."