A new study from Adarma delves into crucial aspects of security operations, including confidence levels, ‘tool sprawl,’ the integration of artificial intelligence, and the overall productivity and well-being of security teams.
Entitled “A False Sense of Cybersecurity: How a False Sense of Security Can Undermine Your Business”, this comprehensive study is conducted a survey conducted among 500 cybersecurity professionals working for UK organisations with over 2000 employees. In it Adarma unearthed a wealth of insights regarding the industry’s perception of the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in security operations.
Notably, even though some SecOps leaders do not anticipate a significant AI impact in the next five years, a remarkable 61% believe that AI could effectively manage up to 30% of security operations. Even more intriguingly, 17% of respondents foresee this percentage increasing to an impressive 50%, Adarma said. This shift in perspective underscores the growing belief in AI’s potential to assist in cybersecurity.
While the specific functions AI will undertake within SecOps remain uncertain, the report emphasises the significant room for innovation and advancement in this field. AI holds the promise of addressing critical cybersecurity challenges, such as reducing false positives, which will, in turn, strengthen the industry’s defence capabilities.
However, security professionals are cautioned to remain vigilant about the source of information and to understand if AI capabilities have been trained on specific data sets and the implications this might have.
Despite an anticipation for AI adoption, 74% of security professionals struggle to envision how AI will precisely assist them with their tasks. AI is still in its infancy, with a lack of expertise, resources, and time identified as barriers to the use of both AI and automation.
The report also delves deeper into the role of automation, revealing that security teams uniformly stress the importance of automating tasks to enhance operational efficiency.
Indeed, 53% of respondents express a preference for eliminating the time spent on reporting – a task that is currently among the least automated, as 70% admitted they don’t leverage automation for this. This gap presents an opportunity for AI to be deployed in automating reporting and other repetitive or mundane duties, thereby enhancing the satisfaction, efficiency, and effectiveness of security teams. Furthermore, 42% of security professionals believe that automation will provide superior contextual information, aiding in more informed decision-making.
The implementation of automation processes, however, is not without its challenges, as outlined in the report. While most respondents reported moderate success in implementing their automation projects, they did acknowledge the complexity and time-consuming nature of the journey. Specifically, 42% found automation implementation to be challenging and time-intensive, with an additional 21% indicating that it was more demanding than initially anticipated. Nonetheless, an overwhelming majority (73%) affirmed that the effort invested in automation was worthwhile.
Artificial intelligence has the potential to enhance detections, reducing instances of false positives and improving decision-making related to response, including isolation, quarantine, and containment. Nevertheless, we must proceed with vigilance.
This technology, along with our ability to employ it safely and securely in our organisations, is still in its early stages. We advocate for vigilant oversight of AI and its decision-making processes until we establish confidence and trust in its capabilities. Teams should identify specific domains where AI can provide the most significant advantages and conduct diligent investigation and monitoring to ensure that desired results can be achieved. Engage with your workforce to ensure they understand the potential risks, highlighting that the aim is not to stifle innovation but to comprehend and manage associated risks,” said John Maynard, Adarma’s CEO.
Adarma’s report underscores the transformative potential of AI and automation in the realm of SecOps. The findings provide invaluable insights into the evolving landscape of cybersecurity, particularly in how innovation and adaptability will protect organisations against emerging threats in the future.
You can read the full report here
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