What is the impact of AI and ML tools on cybersecurity?

89% of IT professionals believe their company could be doing more to defend against cyberattacks, with 64% admitting they are not sure what AI/ML means – despite increased adoption at a global scale, Webroot reveals.

The report, which reveals how global IT professionals perceive and utilize these advancing technologies in business, also found that the UK has the highest use of AI/machine learning in its current cyber security tools when compared with USA, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.

The importance of leveraging AI and ML tools

With the UK currently in lockdown to tackle the spread of coronavirus, thousands more people are staying at home to work. This means it’s never been more important for employers to leverage AI and ML tools to maintain cyber resilience.

And, with the average duration of a phishing attack dropping from days to roughly 30 minutes, it’s clear from the results of the report that businesses need to do more to ensure staff are properly educated on how to use the cybersecurity tools at their disposal effectively.

Matt Aldridge, Principal Solutions Architect, Webroot, said: “It’s clear from these findings that there is still a lot of confusion around artificial intelligence and machine learning, especially in terms of these technologies’ in business cybersecurity, and there is skepticism across all geographies with respect to how much benefit AI/ML brings.

“It’s crucial that businesses improve their understanding in order to realize maximum value. By vetting and partnering with cybersecurity vendors who have long-standing experience using and developing AI/ML, and who can provide expert guidance, we expect businesses will be more likely to achieve the highest levels of cyber resilience and effectively maximize the capabilities of the human analysts on their teams.”