Cybersecurity: To automate or not to automate?

There are seven vital automated IT security applications that will function as the stepping stones necessary to advance cybersecurity in the new world of artificial intelligence, according to ABI Research.

The automated processes will aid critical IT security functions that range from assisting security personnel to streamlining security alerts to system optimization.

“While it will most likely be a valuable addition to IT teams’ arsenals, automation can be a double-edged sword if not handled properly,” says Dimitrios Pavlakis, Industry Analyst at ABI Research. “We expect automated processes to first address key issues like TLS/SSL, or Transport Layer Security/Secure Socket Layer, certification and privilege management prior to tackling critical functions like incident response.”

As security analysts, network engineers, and IT personnel face increasingly tougher challenges due to the proliferation and magnitude of modern cyber threats, automation will become key with ABI Research anticipating it to reach critical mass within the next four years.

Big data, business intelligence, and data analytics platforms are forecast to top $54 billion by 2021 with network security and incident response predicted to climb to $59 billion by the same year.

Innovative vendors working toward full automation in cybersecurity settings include security information and event management (SIEM) vendors IBM, HP, McAfee, LogRhythm, and Splunk; innovative cybersecurity vendors Ayehu, Hexadite, Symantec, and Tripwire; as well as machine learning and user and entity behavioral analytics (UEBA) vendors Gurucul, Trudera, and Vectra Networks.