A top level view of Zscaler’s methods for AI cybersecurity threats

Synthetic intelligence is proving a double-edged sword for enterprise cybersecurity. On one hand, it’s advanced as a robust weapon for organizations to automate and bolster operations and techniques. Conversely, dangerous actors weaponize it to spawn new ransomware and AI cybersecurity threats at a dizzying tempo.

“It’s a transformative time for cybersecurity as an entire,” mentioned Deepen Desai, chief safety officer of Zscaler Inc., in a current interview with theCUBE. “With the arrival of generative AI, there’s a big alternative the place it involves making use of each generative and predictive fashions in remodeling how safety operations are executed. We additionally must be cautious of the truth that the dangerous guys are additionally going to be leveraging this and focusing on your group. It’s already occurring.”

The writing is on the wall. Cyberattackers are utilizing gen AI to create spam communications and mimic vital company internet entities. On the identical time, cloud-reliant enterprises have far more to lose than ever earlier than. How can firms keep protected within the wake of AI-reliant menace actors with a brand new vary of lively tooling?

Right here’s a breakdown theCUBE’s ongoing exploration of an trade primed to spice up efforts in combating the sprawl of AI-related cybersecurity threats, spotlighting current developments and thought management from Zscaler. 

Combating AI cybersecurity threats: Partnerships and zero-trust underpin Zscaler’s market evolution

Zscaler’s current “ThreatLabz 2024 AI Safety Report” discovered that enterprise AI transactions grew by 595% in 2023’s final three quarters. However on the identical time, AI transaction blockage stands at 18.5%, a rise of 577%. The takeaway is that firms are weary of shadow infiltration by copycat AI apps.

“As you allow organizations to undertake AI securely, it’s nonetheless including to your assault floor,” Desai defined. “You see very, very persuasive phishing pages, phishing emails being crafted utilizing AI. That you must have zero belief. It’s solely going to maintain getting worse.”

Zscaler has advanced its zero-trust innovation by way of partnerships, cementing a cornerstone alliance with CrowdStrike Inc. Bridging specialization gaps between each distributors, Zscaler hopes this partnership will develop the theme of ecosystem collaboration within the cybersecurity house.

“We’ve got launched a context engine … we’re permitting a number of companions to construct on that,” mentioned Punit Minocha, govt vp of enterprise improvement and company technique at Zscaler, in a current interview with theCUBE. “That enables for a extra resilient, extra tolerant strategy. And, pay attention, issues occur in safety, issues occur in IT. It’s our job as distributors to be sure that we’re adapting and studying and constructing one thing that’s fail-safe.”

The present state of cybersecurity is fragmented, with a litany of distributors specializing in numerous areas. Counting on an assortment of instruments can go away exploitable gaps in inroads by way of which firms could be infiltrated.

“Safety does are usually very fragmented and when it’s as fragmented as it may be, it provides complexity,” Minocha mentioned. “When it provides complexity, there’s room for error, there’s danger stuff that occurs, danger will get launched. There may be typically a pattern towards making an attempt to consolidate that. On the identical time, there are specific swim lanes which might be very pure. That’s the place Zscaler and CrowdStrike have landed, that permit ourselves to have that open ecosystem mindset, companion with one of the best and go clear up clients’ issues.”

Right now’s dangerous actors aren’t all about disrupting enterprise operations. Ransomware assaults are on the rise, and it’s forcing a rethink on ransomware safety as merely a bolt-on to cybersecurity options. Transferring ahead, zero belief safety and least-privileged entry for identification administration will likely be essential weapons within the palms of defenders towards AI cybersecurity threats.

“Zscaler constantly invests in its cloud safety operations to make sure we’ve ample capability to quickly scale with person development, and we inbuilt resilience at its coronary heart to make sure continuous operations for our clients,” mentioned Jay Chaudhry, chairman, founder and chief govt officer of Zscaler, in a current press launch. “As an innovator and a market chief, we additionally launched a Enterprise Continuity service that allows clients to proceed their operations, even throughout catastrophic occasions.”

One other worrying pattern is the psychological change in cyberattackers. Right now, they’re not as involved with fame, notoriety or information protection, making them extra mature, targeted and harmful than ever. Examples such because the Darkish Angels group serve for example this pattern, in keeping with Brett Stone-Gross, senior director of menace intelligence at Zscaler, in a current interview with theCUBE.

“What we’re seeing with Darkish Angels is that they haven’t actually been within the headlines nearly in any respect,” he mentioned. “They try this on function as a result of they don’t need to be within the information. They get lots much less scrutiny from researchers, lots much less scrutiny extra importantly from legislation enforcement. They’re really extra profitable than almost some other group, if not probably the most profitable group, and for that cause, we ranked them primary in our ransomware report this 12 months.”

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