Are ethics ruining the AI party?
January 2018
Cybersecurity and AI
The phrase ‘data is becoming the new oil’ has been overused in the last few years. However, with the cyber risk insurance industry anticipated to grow to a $7.5 billion dollar industry by 2020, compared with just $1.7 billion in 2015, the sentiment continues to be relevant. The reason for this growth is to do with the widespread adoption of intelligent devices analysing the data produced by every one of us every time we use a device connected to the internet. In fact, if we keep pace with the current rate of growth, by 2025 there will be over ten times the amount of data in existence than there was in 2016 – 163 zettabytes, or a trillion gigabytes, if that’s any easier to get your head around!
Data is becoming increasingly valuable. It is imperative that companies make use of the information they gather to better their customer experience. 89 percent of business buyers now expect companies to know what they’d like before they even reach out. This is only possible with clever use of data. However, alongside the value put on utilising data held by companies, it is now even more important that companies protect the information that they are entrusted with.
Companies now take out bespoke cyber risk insurance policies in order to protect themselves against cyberattacks, and to ensure their businesses are able to cope with any fine they are subject to. However, putting in place business assurances in order to protect the company is only half the battle. Companies must be proactive in ensuring their data is always secure and their systems have the latest malware devices installed. This is where CIOs and CTOs turn to Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Automation to protect their businesses.
An AI security system does not only prevent initial entry into a system, it is able to analyse the system in real-time, identify anomalies and alert security experts to unexpected events. Today’s digital landscape makes AI almost indispensable when it comes to monitoring Big Data, as it can analyse the status of internal systems in seconds. For instance, Tata Consultancy Services’ ignio™ systemempowers IT operations by providing IT engineers with the information they need to prevent cyber-attacks. If, for example, a market research company was to be hit by an IT incident such as a cyber-attack, what would normally take 2-3 hours to identify, mitigate and resolve can take minutes. Not only do these intelligent systems limit the damage attackers can do to a company’s system, they also allow insurers to assess the strength of their policy holder’s internal systems. The Ignio system is able to identify problems lurking in a company’s IT operation and then use its developing ‘brain’ to figure out how best to fix the issue.
For instance IAG, the fifth largest airline group in the world, rely on highly skilled engineers to keep on top of all the IT incidents that inevitably appear. Not only is this expensive, it is also time-consuming, preventing these skilled engineers from improving other areas of the business. Therefore it’s easy to see why a system that uses artificial intelligence to do the same job, is an attractive proposition and prevents engineers from simply firefighting. Even though ignio™ isn’t fully installed yet across the company, it is already cutting maintenance costs. Once fully integrated, it is hoped that approximately 85% of IT incidents at IAG that currently take service teams between 10 and 20 minutes to resolve, will be fixed within two to five minutes – without any human intervention.
There are sure to be those who are skeptical that the best way to deal with IT problems is to install more IT, but AI-based technology is proving to be extremely well-suited for this kind of task. Technology is set to take an ever more central role in almost every kind of business. Reducing the cost of maintaining those systems is in everyone’s interests.
This article was originally published here.
January 2018
January 2018
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