USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO ENHANCE CYBER SECURITY

 

A paper delivered by Ven Dr Samson Kunle Popoola, JP at the 1-Day Security Seminar organised by PCRC Redeemed Division on Saturday 20th July, 2024.
 
The term artificial Intelligence was coined in 1950 for making programs or algorithms more advanced by providing them with base knowledge and letting them learn and decide for the outcome and are used for tasks such as planning, recognition and decision making.

Artificial intelligence refers to the development of computer systems that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence such as:

1.    Learning
2.   Problem solving
3.   Reasoning
4.   Perception
5.   Language understanding.

Despite huge investments and breakthroughs in technological advancements, many hackers and computer rogues are always a step ahead of our inventions thereby making the issue of cyber security a priority.

Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting computer systems, networks, and sensitive information from unauthorised access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction.

This includes;
1.    Protection against malware, viruses, and other cyber threats.
2.   Secure data storage and transmission.
3.   Network security and firewall configuration.
4.   User authentication and access control.
5.   Incident response and threat hunting.
6.   Cybersecurity awareness and training.
 
As the world moves into having our lives packaged into gadgets such as computers, smart and android phones and other related IT gadgets, we must make conscious effort to protect ourselves and data from the ever present threat of cyber attack.

Fortunes are being lost daily in cyber robbery and data thefts, many has been subjected to cyber bullying and blackmails because of their vulnerabilities in cyber space.

Many have bought into sophisticated gadgets only to open themseves up to easy tracking and attacks by cyber criminals.
 
The goal of cybersecurity is to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of digital information and systems. It is constantly evolving field, as new threats and vulnerabilities emerge daily.

Some of these common cybersecurity roles include
Security analyst
Penetration tester
Chief information security officer Incident responders
Cyber security consultant.
 
In order to be a step ahead of cyber attackers, the use of artificial intelligence must constantly be applied because of its inherent advantages which include but are not limited to the following:

1.    It improves the robustness of a system by producing consistently expected outputs even when fed with defective or inaccurate inputs, this is done with software that can self heal and self test.

2.   They are self learning and have inbuilt counter attack measures which can stop an attack from happening and learn from past experiences of counter measures and improve itself with every iteration.

3.   It improves resilience of the system using anomaly detection softwares thereby helping security analysis understand various types of cyber threats.
  
Bringing it back home in our own experiences lets now look at the importance of artificial intelligence in combating cyber security.

1.    AI can process and analyze large amounts of data quickly, helping to identify potential threats. Most of our communication gadgets are currently using artificial intelligence.

2.   Ability to detect anomalies and unusual patterns thereby preventing potential threats.

3.   Respond to threats in real times, automate responses to security threats thereby reducing the risk of human error.

4.   Predict and prevent attack by taking proactive measures to prevent them.

5.   Enhance incident response. Can automate and streamline incident responses processes.

6.   Improve security orchestration. Help integrate and coordinate different security tools and systems.

7.   Reduce false positives, minimizing unnecessary alerts and improving security team efficiency.

8.   Improve security analytics by providing advanced analytics and insights to help security teams make informed decisions.

9.   It supports vulnerability management by helping to identify and prioritize vulnerabilities enabling a more effective patch management.

10.  Enhance security awareness by personalizing security awareness training for users thereby improving securuty postures.
 
By leveraging and consciously applying artificial intelligence in our organisations, communities and other concerns can improve their defences, reduce risks and enhance overall security effectiveness.
 
USES OF AI TO SECURE DATA.
1.    ENCRYPTION
2.   ANOMALY DETECTION
3.   ACCESS CONTROL
4.   DATA BACK UP AND DISCOVERY
5.   INTRUSION DETECTION AND PTEVENTION
6.   SECURE DATA STORAGE
7.   IDENTITY AND ACCESS MANAGEMENT
8.   MALWARE DETECTION AND REMOVAL
9.   SECURE COMMUNICATION [END TO END]
10. AI POWERED SECURITY INFORMATION AND EVENT MANAGEMENT.

We Must Note However That Ai Is Not A Silver Bullet To Solve All Cyber Security Problems, It Must Constantly Be Used In Conjunction With Other Security Measures To Ensure Adequate Security Of Our Data.
 
 
THANK YOU.

Ven Dr Samson Kunle Popoola, JP
Ogun State Chairman
Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC)