AI has advanced rapidly over the past few years, and cybercriminals are trying to use it to launch more sophisticated attacks across a greater scale, and more quickly than ever, all while evading detection. So how can defenders leverage advanced AI tools, like Microsoft Copilot for Security, to counteract these threats?

Quorum Cyber hosted its first cyber security event dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI) on 18th September 2024 to answer this pressing question. AI in Cyber Security: Navigating the Future was held in-person in London and livestreamed to remote participants, all of whom were encouraged to ask any burning questions.

Tech expert, author, presenter, podcaster, and BBC investigative journalist Jamie Bartlett discussed how AI is shaping the future of cyber security with Microsoft’s Copilot for Security Champion Matt Isbell and Quorum Cyber’s Solutions Director for AI, Graham Hosking.

The main points raised at ‘AI in Cyber Security’ were:

• AI’s potential to revolutionise cyber security is immense, from enhancing threat detection to automating responses to increasingly sophisticated attacks
• The risks are real, but the opportunities to harness AI, like Microsoft Copilot for Security, are equally powerful
• Integrating AI into managed security services is not just a vision for the future – it’s happening right now, and it’s reshaping how organisations are defended.

Challenges to cyber security and the media

As the presenter of the award-winning BBC podcast series The Missing Cryptoqueen, Jamie said that AI technology seen in advanced hacker forums will become more democratised and widely available in the future. This will pose new challenges for security professionals.

“I see cybercrime as the same as every other industry in the world,” he said. “It’s a multi-trillion-dollar industry populated by really smart people who are thinking about how they can integrate new technology to make their job easier, to reach more people, to make more money. Criminals are excited about the possibility of AI.”

Jamie, who has researched internet crime for 15 years, revealed that he hasn’t yet seen evidence of sophisticated AI-driven cyber-attacks, but on the dark web criminals are discussing how to do this today.

Media interest and privacy versus security

The media is now publishing more stories about AI being used for malicious purposes, he explained, but these stories don’t always portray the actual threat landscape accurately. Such publicity is often creating a perception of an AI crisis, but the facts should be verified through reliable threat reports and data. He feels it’s important for journalists to talk to cyber security experts more frequently to paint an accurate picture of what’s really happening.

And he raised the growing concern about deepfakes. “The challenge is when to trust the real person and the real content, and not to distrust absolutely everything. There will need to be new procedures in a lot of businesses around things like invoices and transactions.”

Jamie talked about the ongoing and well-documented battle between governments and technology companies over privacy and encryption, especially as it pertains to AI-generated content and cyber security. There is, he argued, the potential for a complete rethink of digital lives and security due to the increasing complexity and integration of AI technologies.

Microsoft’s viewpoint

Matt explained that Microsoft has a robust roadmap for Copilot for Security, which Quorum Cyber has embedded into its managed services to help cyber security analysts investigate incidents more deeply and faster than ever. Quorum Cyber is also using it to summarise and report on more detailed and complex incidents that might be related to other cyber-attacks to improve efficiency, productivity, and clarity. Microsoft is working to integrate Copilot into more solutions and third-party ecosystems, making Copilot a comprehensive tool for security operations. Microsoft is also shifting from reactionary to proactive security measures, leveraging AI to monitor security posture and compliance more effectively. Overall, AI is helping organisations to remediate threats more quickly and is focusing more on preventing incidents rather than just responding to them.

“Customers need to understand what they want to use Copilot for and think about their use cases,” said Matt. “The amount of security data that is generated is only going to grow.” AI will help cyber security professionals detect more sophisticated phishing attacks and deepfakes, and security configuration vulnerabilities and risks.

Matt added that AI will definitely enable the industry to address the significant cyber security skills gap: “We’ve talked for years about the challenges of hiring skilled professionals into cyber security but we‘re no longer asking for five to ten years of experience.”

Quorum Cyber’s standpoint

Graham pointed out that cybercrime has recently come down slightly, but he believes that cybercriminals are spending their time working out how to exploit AI tools for more sophisticated attacks in the future.

Graham said that AI models will continue to expand and get better, leading to more specialised AI tools for specific tasks. AI will become more integrated into security tools, not just as add-ons but embedded within the core functionality. Furthermore, AI technology has the potential for multi-threaded tasks, allowing for parallel processing of information and consolidating data into actionable insights. It will enrich the information available through threat intelligence and improve the overall security posture. “In the future, AI will be built into everything.”

Explore more with Quorum Cyber

You can watch the full recording of AI in Cyber Security: Navigating the Future on the Quorum Cyber website.

Quorum Cyber has launched a four-week Copilot for Security Proof of Concept workshop, distinguishing itself as the first and only offering of its kind. Unlike standard half-day sessions, this comprehensive workshop is designed to empower organisations to successfully implement and maximise the use of Copilot.

By offering a more detailed engagement, the workshop takes the time to thoroughly evaluate the unique potential of each organisation’s individual use cases. Participants will benefit from expert guidance, hands-on training, and a comprehensive knowledge transfer, all of which are aimed at ensuring the establishment of a strengthened cyber security framework that adheres to industry best practices.

More on the workshop can be found on the Copilot for Security Adoption Workshop page, or contact us at [email protected] to discuss scheduling a session today.