GenAI Dominates Cybersecurity at RSA Conference

The 3-day event saw several big names share new ideas around securing data with AI help)

The three-day RSA Conference on cybersecurity at San Francisco saw several companies share their perspectives around the future of security digital data with generative artificial intelligence (gen-AI) the discussions for the second year running. And, this time some big names such as Microsoft and Google announced some advancements on this front. 

Of course, several other companies also used the occasion to highlight their innovations in cybersecurity in order to understand the threat perceptions of the future and meet them when they happen. Another noteworthy event was many companies signing the “Secure by Design Pledge” announced by the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). 

The timing for AI in cybersecurity is just right

What’s crucial is also the fact that these announcements from companies, large and small, comes in the wake of a renewed demand surge for cybersecurity solutions and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning. In fact, Deloitte has pegged the cybersecurity market size to grow beyond $102 billion dollars by 2032. 

Meanwhile, recent surveys have shown that most senior officials believe that a secure and trustworthy AI-led solution would be critical to the success of their enterprises in the future. What makes things lucrative for the big guns and the start-ups operating in this field is the fact that less than a quarter of the industry reps actually had gen-AI actually implemented. 

While it was Google and Microsoft that sought to attract attention at the 3-day conclave that brings together the top cybersecurity companies and experts, the announcement of a proprietary AI system that combines gen-AI, machine learning and deep learning by Palo Alto networks was in many respects the biggest event of this conference. 

Palo Alto Networks combines gen-AI with ML and deep learning

Small wonder then that the company actually held forth on the opening day of the event itself.  Palo Alto Networks says its new proprietary system is built on the vendor’s security datasets and proven playbooks and is designed for guided automation and actionable insights. The security giant has integrated Precision AI with all its existing and new capabilities across network security, cloud security and security operations (DevOps). 

Palo Alto Networks now offers Precision AI Security Bundle that includes malware protection, URL filtering, threat prevention and DNS security tools to address any potential impact or risks associated with the malicious use of AI. It also allows for creation of a secure AI ecosystem that includes AI access security, Prisma Cloud AI security posture management, AI runtime security and AI-enabled Code to Cloud products. 

The company said that their goal was to improve compliance and minimize data exposure from development to deployment. Palo Alto Networks also introduced three new gen-AI assistants for its Strata network security platform, Prisma Cloud platform and the Cortex XSIAM platform. The co-pilots would assist in secure access service edge (SASE) and next generation firewall (deployments, risk prioritization, remedy, threat detection and reporting.

Microsoft upped the ante on security and governance 

On its part, Microsoft introduced updates to the Microsoft Defender cloud security as well as the Microsoft Purview data protection solutions in order to enhance the security and governance of gen-AI applications. Some of the new capabilities include AI security posture management across platforms such as Azure OpenAI Service, Azure ML and Amazon Bedrock to identify risks, map attack paths and provide built-in security best practices on AI applications such as new detections alerting malicious activity for AI workloads at runtime. 

The company also previewed its Purview AI Hub which provides insights into AI application usage around sensitive data shared with AI applications, total number of users interacting with AI apps and their risks levels. The vendor can also preview the capability of an AI hub to help customers discover potential AI interactions that violate enterprise regulations in areas such as hate and discrimination, corporate sabotage and money laundering. 

Google’s Mandiant AI consulting comes to the fore

Meanwhile, Google introduced its Mandiant AI consulting service which aims to support enterprises access the security of their AI pipelines and test AI defence mechanisms and response with red teaming. Mandiant could assist customers identify and implement ways to use AI to streamline investigative capabilities. 

The company also came up with tool previews such as the Notebook Security Scanner that keeps track for the visibility to open-source software vulnerabilities exposure and Model Armor that would conduct model prompt and response inspection and protection. 

Amidst these announcements, IBM also came up with initiatives to support customers in navigating AI usage with security as a core element. The company added the IBM X-Force Red Testing Services to its consulting Cybersecurity services that are designed to test the security of gen-AI applications.  The company is also planning to extend its data security and identity and assessment management capabilities.