Lastline: Machine Learning Is The Key To Tackling Rising Cyber Security Threats

Machine leaning and artificial intelligence (AI) look set to have a major part to play in the world of cyber security, as threats become more complex and pervasive.

At the Silicon stand at Infosecurity 2017, Dr Giovanni Vigna, co-founder and chief technology officer of machine leaning-centric cyber security firm Lastline,  discussed how the use of smart software for cyber security will help with the battle against cyber threats.

AI and security

Lastline makes use of machine learning to identify and detect threats in an IT network before they can cause harm, thereby making security far more pro-active rather than reactive.

“We don’t believe there is one silver bullet that will solve everything. But we are definitely very much into machine learning and AI combined with our ability to dissect the malware and find out what it does inside [the network],” he told us.

Of course, Lastline is not the first and will not be the last cyber security company to put machine learning technology to use.

But, Vigna warned it is not simply a case of taking machine learning and smart technology form the likes of Google and Microsoft and applying it to the security world as techniques such as computer vision struggle to work in the cyber security arena where there are actors deliberately attempting to trick smart algorithms and systems into learning the wrong thing.

As such, he says there is a need for checks and balances in order to ensure a smart security system is detecting the right threats and not being led down the digital equivalent of a garden path.

Furthermore, unlike many concerns around AI, machine learning in security it not there to steal the jobs of security researchers, but rather aid them in tackling the massive volumes of threats organisations face on a near daily basis.

For the full interview check out the video above.

There was plenty more going on at the Silicon stand, including a discussion with Darktrace on IoT insider security threats, and insight from ESET on tackling ransomware and botnets.

Quiz: What do you know about cyber security in 2017?