The impact of AI on cybersecurity
Here’s a sobering stat: UK businesses lost £736 million to cybercrime last year. That’s the confirmed figure from reported cases. The actual number could be higher.
£736 million is a staggering figure. Over recent years we’ve seen huge headline-grabbing cybercrimes, like the WannaCry ransomware attack that targeted the NHS.
But in many ways, the more damaging attacks are the ones that don’t make the headlines. Small businesses can suffer irreparable financial and reputational damage – even if the losses don’t look as dramatic in absolute terms.
There’s absolutely no escaping the need to be vigilant. And luckily, the wonders of modern machine learning technology are at hand.
Artificial intelligence to the rescue!
Cyber-criminals are getting smarter. But so are the tools we use to stop them. The most cutting-edge business cybersecurity tools now use artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse, learn about and ultimately stop threats. Sophos Intercept X is a fantastic example in the field of endpoint protection. That’s what we’ll be focusing on here.
Here at Pure Cloud, we’re always on the look-out for the latest services to help our customers. And we think this offers outstanding defences against the ever-present threat of cyber-crime. Intercept X offers industry-leading protection against malware, ransomware, viruses and other threats, bolstered by the power of AI.
How does AI work in cybersecurity?
Sophos Intercept X uses deep learning – a highly advanced form of machine learning designed to mimic neural networks in the human brain. But unlike the human brain, it’s able to compute and retain unfathomably large amounts of data.
This offers first-rate protection, but it’s more than that.
It’s like recruiting the world’s quickest cybersecurity analyst. If anything does go wrong, you’ll know exactly what, where, how and when. You’ll even get suggestions for next steps – giving you the means you need to prevent it from happening again.
What are the benefits of AI in endpoint protection?
Labour-saving
Analysing and reporting on a cyber-attack is highly skilled, labour-intensive work. Thanks to AI, Intercept X does it all for you, in a fraction of a second. That will save your IT team a lot of time and effort – which saves you money! And if you don’t have the knowledge to analyse threats in-house, AI will give it to you.
Data processing
It may not sound exciting, but it’s one of the chief benefits of AI. Compared to humans, it can process and retain vastly more data simultaneously. This allows it to work much faster and more efficiently than we ever could. Cybersecurity is the perfect application for that, because we need tools to keep up with ever-changing threats.
Evolving protection
With conventional endpoint security, you get protection from current and known threats. As new threats emerge, the developers will release patches from time to time. But there’s always a delay between the emergence of new threats and upgrades. AI is constantly at work, (deep!) learning about new threats.
Easy management
The technology may be advanced, but using it couldn’t be simpler. You manage Sophos Intercept X on an online portal, where you can check statuses and view reports. It’s useful and readable whatever your skill level.
What other cybersecurity tools use AI?
Sophos also offers its XG Firewall for network protection. Just like Intercept X, it uses deep learning to understand threats, and offers first-rate protection. Better yet, the firewall and endpoint protection communicate with and learn from each other.
Despite our ever-growing reliance on connectivity in business, network security is overlooked. Your network is like the nervous system of your business – a vulnerability in one part could be incredibly costly. That’s why a lot of businesses are choosing to have both Sophos products side by side, enhancing each other’s performance.
Partnering with Pure Cloud
AI is a new technological frontier, which at times feels like something from a science fiction movie! These Sophos products are about as good as it gets for business cybersecurity, and we thought they were well worth a write-up of their own.
But we offer a range of cybersecurity options, alongside other IT, telecom and connectivity services. We believe in partnership above all, and finding the solution that works for our customers. This begins with an audit of your business technology, where we’ll look to fix any vulnerabilities or inefficiencies.
What matters to us is what works for you. If you want to find out more about cybersecurity or any other service, get in touch.
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