The rise of AI this year brought numerous challenges to the company backing it up because the technology was received with open arms by some and reluctance by others.
ChatGPT was the reason behind all the media fuss because it was a fun way for people to spend their time and experiment with an advanced AI chatbot. However, shortly after, it was revealed that it had undergone a data breach caused by vulnerabilities that allowed hackers to write malicious codes into the open-source library. This occurrence led to a stir on social media, where people’s voices made the company retreat for a while.
However, Artificial Intelligence itself can have significant business results if left in the right hands. At least, this is what a recent study found out.
IBM’s Cost of Data Breach 2023 study on AI
An analysis by IBM curated the experience of more than 500 organisations experiencing cybersecurity attacks. Here are some main ideas from the report that can be helpful if you want to integrate AI within your business:
- AI should be leveraged for system investigation since it can rapidly detect abnormalities;
- A hybrid cloud solution is one of the best current solutions for data protection;
- A plan for uncovering risky vulnerabilities is essential to see what are your company’s pain points;
- Protecting your attack surface might seem counterproductive, but it is key to securing systems;
Unfortunately, despite numerous efforts, some companies are simply targeted by hackers or ex-employees and might be prone to experiencing such an unfortunate occurrence. In this case, you can ask for the help of specialised advisors from https://www.databreachclaims.org.uk/, who will offer high-quality legal services to compensate for non-material or financial damage.
AI needs to be introduced now because most businesses aren’t cyber-ready
In 2022, 39% of companies in the UK found they’ve been the subject of a cyber-attack, which is a considerable decrease compared to 2017. Still, the percentage is high in regard to the high-tech organisations that have access to.
The main problem here is that not all of them invest enough resources in cybersecurity. They might be aware of phishing attempts, which are prevalent in 83% of data breach cases, but don’t see them as dangerous. At the same time, only a few (21%) have been targeted with attacks like denial of service or malware, which are more complex to create and eliminate.
What’s more worrying is that almost all these businesses reported experiencing at least one attack per week that impacted their image negatively, and the costs of these attacks rose to £4,200. That’s because institutions are not prepared with proactive solutions for the long term and are simply counting on the basic security systems they’ve enabled.
Why should businesses use AI for data security?
AI has been found to be useful in many branches of a company’s data security, and here’s what it can do:
- Detect with precision the presence of malware through algorithms that use patterns gathered from the web;
- Identify suspicious user activity and alarm the company early before attacks happen;
- Predict supposed zero-day attacks and enhance security systems in case the business might be in danger;
- Update malware defences by being up-to-date with the latest trend in cyberattacks;
The use of AI is the best strategy for a company to act immediately in case of a data breach, as well as anticipate specific attacks. It is not only more cost-efficient but also eliminates human errors. This also spares employees from mundane tasks and allows them to focus on more critical jobs.
Limitations of AI in cybersecurity
Of course, AI isn’t invincible, and as much as we don’t want data breaches, hackers might always find ways of breaking systems. First, AI developments require trained data sets to be efficient. These sets have to be updated as frequently as possible because, without them, new threats can’t be identified and therefore eliminated.
At the same time, it may be possible that AI is the subject of being biased, according to the information it’s provided. It can happen if the sets included are unbalanced or present faulty algorithms, which can have a bigger impact than expected. Despite all its benefits, this decreases the technology’s trust in the long term.
However, the aspect that many are fearing includes an over-reliance on AI systems that might
take companies to the wrong place. This false sense of safety that AI seems to provide might trigger risky complacency, which isn’t the best solution for the technology and mindset of today.
How can a company properly introduce AI into its system?
AI is a complex technology that requires professionals to handle it, as well as an adequate ecosystem to flourish. Therefore, it has to be introduced little by little in a business to yield considerable results in the long term.
Here are some necessary steps for adopting AI:
- Familiarising with AI by accessing numerous resources and training employees and teams on understanding the concept;
- Identifying pain points in your business that can be solved with AI, such as handling enormous data sets;
- Being aware of the internal capability gap and prepared to make mistakes and to experiment with AI;
- Setting up a pilot project with the help of an expert team who can get a hold of AI’s actual functionality for your company;
- Starting slow to collect feedback and expand in accordance with your possibilities and resources;
It’s true that approaching AI as one of the first companies in your competition field will provide an incredible advantage and set your organisation among the few innovative ones. However, to truly offer top-notch AI services, you need to take it easy and grasp the concept and utility of AI in time rather than go for it mindlessly for the sake of ruling the market.
Bottom line
A recent survey by IBM showed the importance of AI in mitigating data breaches among companies. It was found that if companies use AI services extensively, they can lower their chances of experiencing a security breach and better streamline their productivity.
