Blog AI for SecOps: 8 key use cases for enhanced security

The cloud offers immense benefits for any organization, but with these benefits comes an expanded attack surface and increased security risks. This is where AI for SecOps comes in. Artificial intelligence brings a new level of risk reduction, data protection, offensive and defensive threat detection, and threat prevention that’s reshaping the security landscape to combat advanced threats. 

While human expertise remains essential for strategic security decisions, AI is rapidly changing the game when it comes to threat detection and response. AI offers powerful new tools and capabilities that can significantly enhance the effectiveness of security teams. Here are 8 key advantages AI brings to your security operations team:

1. Anomaly-based threat detection: Catching the unknown

Signature-based threat detection uses malware characteristics stored in a database to identify network threats. The static nature of signatures means that only known threats can be identified. Anomaly-based security uses patterns of network activity and artificial intelligence to compare traffic activity with trained models. For example, suppose that a file contains sensitive information and too many access requests were denied at a certain time and with some frequency. Characteristics of the user request, the environment, and malware attributes can be analyzed and used to detect threats, meaning zero-day threats can also be detected.

2. More accurate threat intelligence

Threat intelligence involves monitoring clearnet and darknet sources for indicators of emerging threats and potential data breaches. While threat intelligence data has long been collected via automation, AI can now analyze the data and provide output to security researchers. For example, data collected from darknet markets and then fed to artificial intelligence can alert security researchers of a new emerging threat like ransomware or a malware variant coded to bypass defenses.

3. Security Operations Center (SOC) automation: Freeing up the experts

Analysts in a SOC –or a Network Operations Center (NOC)– must constantly look at dashboards and determine if more security protocols are necessary. Security staff consistently monitor attack statistics and determine if the organization is a target for specific malware. With AI, operations like scanning the network for potential vulnerabilities or determining that a specific threat is targeting the organization can be automated. For example, suppose that several users received the same phishing email with a link to hosted ransomware for them to download. AI can ingest these statistics and alert administrators to potential ongoing attacks and let users know that they should be vigilant in identifying phishing attacks especially when the enterprise is being targeted.

4. Taming privilege creep and security vulnerabilities

Privilege creep is a security phenomenon that happens when a user continues to move departments or change jobs within the organization but keeps previous network permissions. The aggregate permissions make the employee a perfect target for malware or social engineering. Should the user fall for any phishing or social engineering tricks providing access to an attacker to their account, the aggregated permissions would give the attacker much more data access than necessary. Traditionally, scoping privileges is performed manually by network administrators. AI can be used to monitor user accounts and suggest removal of permissions if a user never uses them or they are no longer necessary for their job function.

5. Automated threat prevention and containment

It’s one thing to know that a threat is in your environment, but you need the skills and experience to contain it. Security professionals must contain the threat quickly so that it can no longer deliver its payload. They then need to investigate it and eradicate it from the network. AI can be used to automatically contain a threat, giving security teams valuable time to investigate and remediate the root cause of the attack. Intrusion prevention using AI is much more accurate and effective than relying on human intervention, which can be much slower and ineffective. For example, human security researchers might miss a location and allow backdoors for the malware, but AI is trained to fully scan all open locations and contain threats.

6. Shining a light on shadow IT 

Adding any unauthorized hardware or infrastructure to a network, whether intentionally malicious or simply a misconfiguration, can introduce vulnerabilities. Rogue hardware could be used to eavesdrop on data. Even a network administrator adding cloud infrastructure without proper logging creates blind spots in monitoring. AI enhances network security by notifying administrators of any unauthorized hardware or infrastructure deployments, significantly improving the detection of these vulnerabilities compared to manual processes.

7. Outsmarting phishing attacks

Phishing attacks are constantly evolving. Hackers are always finding new ways to trick people and slip past email security. Traditional email filters just can’t keep up with the latest tricks and brand-new phishing attempts. But AI can analyze emails in real time and spot suspicious signs, even if the attack is completely new. AI can also help manage the daily flood of spam and flag potentially dangerous emails for closer inspection. It’s a great first line of defense against even the most cutting-edge phishing scams.

8. Endpoint protection, wherever you are

Letting people use their own phones and laptops at work is pretty standard these days, especially with everyone connecting to cloud apps on the go. BYOD (bring your own device) policies are great for getting things done, but it also opens up a lot of security holes. The problem is, you can’t really control what people do on their personal devices, but you still need to keep an eye on things. That’s where AI comes in. It can spot suspicious activity, like if someone accidentally downloads malware that tries to use their work account to steal data or create backdoors on the network. AI can constantly monitor network traffic and files to see if there’s any indication of malicious activity on those personal devices.

Taking your security operations to the next level with Insight

AI is revolutionizing security operations, but let’s face it: implementing and managing these cutting-edge technologies can be daunting. Staying ahead of increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks requires constant vigilance, specialized expertise, and the right tools.

That’s where Insight comes in. We’re not just another technology consultancy. We’re an award-winning Google Cloud Premier Partner with a deep understanding of AI-driven security. We’ve harnessed the power of Google Security Operations (formerly Chronicle) to create our Managed SecOps service—a fully managed, 24/7 solution designed to elevate your security posture to new heights.

Here’s how our Managed SecOps can give you the edge:

• Enhanced threat detection and rapid response: Our team of Google Cloud-certified experts leverage AI-powered security analytics and automation to identify and neutralize threats with unmatched speed and precision.
• Cost-effective security operations: Say goodbye to the burden of building and maintaining an expensive in-house SOC. We handle everything, freeing up your resources and budget.
• Improved security detection: Gain unparalleled visibility and continuous monitoring across your entire IT environment, from cloud and SaaS to on-premises. No blind spots, no surprises.
• Reduced alert fatigue: Our security teams filter out the noise and prioritize high-risk threats, so your team can focus on what truly matters.
• Improved threat investigation: When threats emerge, we dive deep. Leveraging our extensive experience and Google Cloud’s advanced analytics, we conduct rapid threat hunts and investigate complex attacks with efficiency and expertise.
• Enhanced security posture: We’re your partners in building a robust security foundation. We provide comprehensive support for regulatory compliance and data security, including an annual Security Assessment to ensure your defenses are always optimized.

Ready to enhance your organization’s security posture with the power of AI and expert support? Speak with one of our security experts to explore the benefits of Managed SecOps.