The cyber threat landscape weighs heavily on the minds of business and IT leaders, and for good reason. Statista reports that in the third quarter of this year alone, nearly 15 million data records were exposed globally.
The risk of a data breach puts tremendous pressure on IT and security teams to ensure that corporate networks are not only protected, but kept up to date. This is a daunting task given increasingly complex network architectures that mix on-premises and cloud infrastructure. Additionally, a hybrid workforce creates multiple paths for data and application traffic that must be protected.
What can be done to relieve this stress? The CIO Expert Network, made up of IT professionals and industry analysts, identified many ways that technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), automation and zero-trust security can help IT teams improve their networks.
Zero Trust is becoming the modern security standard
Adoption of zero trust solutions is slowly rising, with 49% of organizations saying they currently use these technologies, up from 46% in 2021, according to Foundry’s 2022 Security Priorities Study. According to experts, these principles, policies and related technologies are of interest for a variety of reasons.
B2B technology and engineering content writer Emily Gray-Fow (@Emily_Gray_Fow) said: “Modern cybersecurity threats combined with risks inherent in hybrid and remote workforces, including a mix of in-house and outsourced talent, have led to the evolution of a zero-trust security model.
Scott Schober (@ScottBVS), president and CEO of Berkeley Varitronics Systems Inc., added: “As the threat landscape changes, networks continue to change and evolve, which is why a zero trust model is so important to an organization’s security.
More specifically, Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) is beneficial because it “provides borderless security, policy enforcement and improves network efficiency by ensuring least privileged access to explicitly authorized resources,” said Sumo Logic chief strategy officer and said George Gerchow (@georgegerchow), Senior Vice President of IT.
“IT departments can also benefit from ZTA through automated device authentication before accessing the network,” Gerchow said. “This allows for a higher level of proven security access and IT agility, whether the system is deployed on-premises, hybrid or in the cloud.
Ramprakash Ramamoorthy, director of artificial intelligence research at Zoho Corporation, agrees. “Zero Trust Security is a valuable resource that protects applications and IT networks from insider threats and ensures that hackers cannot easily move laterally within the network without being detected. This will reduce downtime and improve overall performance of a given organization data security.
According to several experts, a zero-trust foundation can be strengthened with artificial intelligence and automation solutions:
“Once Zero Trust is established, AI and automation can be implemented to ensure rapid investigation and remediation procedures are up and running. This can then provide 24/7 protection to organizations at speed and scale,” Digital Automation and Robotics Ltd CEO Kieran Gilmurray (@KieranGilmurray)
“Zero Trust is a difficult and complex solution; there is no magic bullet, but AI technology makes the job easier, which helps automate threat detention and accelerate threat response,” – Nicki, Chief Transformation Officer, AIA Philippines Doble.
“AI and automation will help create zero-trust policies and structures to prevent penetrations from becoming penetrations,” — Enrique Carrillo (@ecarrillo), WNS Senior Diversified Manufacturing, Consumer Products, Retail and Telecommunications Strategic Growth Vice President
“Since every resource and user connected to the network is considered unauthorized unless proven otherwise, coupled with a deep access layer stack that is specific to each organization, it cannot be managed without automation and artificial intelligence. Such a system is almost impossible.”
Artificial Intelligence technology provides value well beyond security
The cyber benefits of AI technology don’t stop at security. Experts cited other ways these solutions can improve network management and business outcomes.
“Today’s networks are highly dynamic and require scaling when data scientists train models, IoT-enabled factory floors increase production, or more employees work remotely,” said Isaac Sacolick (@nyike), president of StarCIO and author of Digital Trailblazer. “Networks built using predictive machine learning models and automated capabilities can protect organizations and extend resources to areas of greatest need.
Additionally, IT and business teams “still adapting to the new norm of a remote workforce can rely on AI to help unite employees and managers around common goals to improve overall operational efficiency,” said Berkeley Precision Systems president and CEO Scott Schober (@ScottBVS) said, “AI can do what an army of humans can do in a fraction of the time and cost by analyzing large amounts of data and delivering specific, actionable insights.
More specifically, Frank Cutitta (@fcutitta), CEO and founder of HealthTech Decisions Lab, said: “The human element may be the greatest threat to network trust and efficiency, and despite employees taking necessary security training courses, they are the most Difficult to control. Given the distributed workforce, advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotic process automation are critical to identifying technological threats as well as human errors that can lead to breaches.
Automation improves network efficiency
To make IT and network teams more efficient, Schober also said automation can be both a time saver and an enabler.
“When IT teams are given unrealistic deadlines and no reasonable means to complete their tasks, organizations suffer,” he said. “When automation is properly ingrained into network operations, IT teams can better configure, scale and properly secure and secure network infrastructure.
Several experts expanded on the benefits of automation for networks:
“Today’s security landscape is incomplete without discussing security orchestration and automation. Security automation reduces incident response times, directly saving organizations money and time. For example, by building an intrusion detection system (IDS), you can passively detect threats , generate alerts, and shut down vulnerable activity against target applications before damage occurs @PeterBNichol.
“Automation and artificial intelligence can contribute to more robust and time-saving customer service. Chatbots, while not perfect, can answer basic customer queries 24/7 and can