Study shows increasing use of AI for cybersecurity

Malware sophistication is increasing as adversaries begin to weaponize cloud services and evade detection through encryption, used as a tool to conceal command-and-control activity. To reduce adversaries' time to operate, security professionals said they will increasingly leverage and spend more on tools that use AI and machine learning, according to the 11th Cisco 2018 Annual Cybersecurity Report (ACR). Findings from the Report show 39% of organizations are reliant on automation, 34% are reliant on machine learning, and 32% are highly reliant on AI in their battle against threats and potential threats. While encryption is meant to enhance security, the expanded volume of encrypted web traffic (50% as of October 2017) -- both legitimate and malicious -- has created more challenges for defenders trying to identify and monitor potential threats. Cisco threat researchers observed more than a threefold increase in encrypted network communication used by inspected malware samples over a 12-month period.