Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning , Fraud Management & Cybercrime , Next-Generation Technologies & Secure Development

AI: A Catalyst for Offense and Defense

Artificial intelligence is transforming cybersecurity on both offensive and defensive fronts. Attackers use AI to iterate and modify exploits rapidly, making malicious code harder to detect, said Tim Gallo, head of global solutions architects at Google. These iterations, he said, create a broader range of attacks, complicating efforts to identify threats on a detailed level.

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Deepfake technology is also advancing fraud tactics. AI-generated deepfakes have made business email compromise schemes more convincing, Gallo warned.

"One of the key things that we talk about all the time is there's not enough people getting involved in cybersecurity, or they do not have enough experience or don't understand the tooling," he said. "By implementing AI in the tooling itself, you can take things such as natural language processing and turn that into the ability to automate and develop rules or playbooks for specific activity types."

In this video interview with Information Security Media Group at the AI Virtual Summit, Gallo also discussed:

• How adversaries use AI to create complex networks that obscure the origin of attacks;
• The challenge of tracking and responding to attacks within distributed networks;
• AI’s potential to enhance cybersecurity defenses.

Gallo has more than 25 years of experience in risk assessment, sales, technical leadership, cloud computing and cybersecurity. At Google, he leads a dynamic team of solutions architects specializing in cyberthreat intelligence and risk. Previously, he was the principal architect at Mandiant.