"Deep Learning Delivers Proactive Cyber Defense"

An increasing number of organizations are exploring how deep learning, and its ability to mimic the human brain, can help cybersecurity operations stay ahead of the world's fastest and most dangerous cyber threats. Deep learning, the most advanced form of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology and a type of Machine Learning (ML), employs neural networks to instinctively and autonomously anticipate and prevent unknown malware and zero-day attacks before they impact an IT environment. The majority of cybersecurity technologies, such as Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions, identify, monitor, record, and quarantine a threat after it has entered an environment. ML-based cybersecurity solutions, which use pre-labeled data classified as either benign or malicious, are also essential components of any security strategy. However, without constant human tweaking, neither set of cybersecurity solutions can proactively defend against sophisticated attacks. Deep learning, on the other hand, can mimic the functionality and connectivity of neurons in the human brain, allowing neural networks to independently learn from raw and un-curated data as well as recognize unknown threats automatically. Although deep learning has been around since the 1940s, the high cost and complexity of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) have kept the technology out of many organizations' reach, but this is changing as processing power increases and graphics chip prices fall. Deep learning is ideally suited to changing the way cyberattacks are prevented. Any ML-based tool can theoretically be reverse engineered to introduce a bias or vulnerability that weakens its defenses against an attack. Bad actors can also use their own ML algorithms to poison a defensive solution with erroneous data. Deep learning circumvents the need for highly skilled and experienced data scientists to manually feed a solution data set, thus addressing the limitations of ML. Rather, a deep learning model designed specifically for cybersecurity can absorb and process massive amounts of raw data to fully train the system. This article continues to discuss how deep learning can help proactively combat sophisticated cyberattacks. 

MIT Technology Review reports "Deep Learning Delivers Proactive Cyber Defense"