Cybersecurity in the Age of AI: Expert Insights

Overview Few topics in the tech industry spark more discussion than cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. Increasingly, experts across the public, private and nonprofit sectors are exploring how AI can impact cybersecurity. They’re considering how best to guard against threats to sensitive data, as well as to critical infrastructure, in the age of AI. Find out what cybersecurity experts had to say at CES 2023.

To quantify bytes of digital output the world generates daily, data scientists use the term “quintillion.” One quintillion is equivalent to one billion billions. Multiply that by 2.5, and you’re looking at how many bytes of data we’re spinning up every 24 hours. All that valuable information is an irresistible target for today’s threat actors in cyberspace. With phishing, ransomware, denial of service and other types of attack already offering lucrative financial gain and other returns to the perpetrators, AI represents the next frontier in cybersecurity.

The cyber pros know this, reassuring us that they, too, are looking to AI innovation to protect us from this evolving threat landscape. They’ve already been using AI for years to address these threats head on. At CES 2023, several cybersecurity insiders discussed the risks, as well as mitigations. Notable sessions included two that focused on cyber threats and how to tackle them when emerging technologies fall into the wrong hands.

AI and Cybercrime Implications

Leading cybersecurity companies such as CrowdStrike use AI to identify and manage threats. At CES, George Kurtz, CrowdStrike CEO and co-founder, discussed cybersecurity trends and challenges with Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Among the many topics they considered were strategies for handling radical shifts in the cyber-threat landscape.

They agree that a comprehensive approach to securing data systems requires public-private partnerships. It also benefits from the deployment of AI to help build a protective shield around key data systems. For the entire session, check out Great Minds: How to Build a New Cybersecurity Era (session length: 43:11).

AI’s Not So Smart, Say Cybercrime Fighters

Major investors and financial services organizations may know better than most the perils of a successful cyber attack. It can, and has, impacted energy grids, transportation systems, even nuclear facilities. Attacks have also emptied bank accounts and robbed enterprises of their intellectual property.

Cybersecurity experts -- particularly those supporting Nasdaq CTA thematic indexes -- are closely watching AI. The concern is that the technology may be as useful to criminals as it is to those working for the public good.

In this CES 2023 session, The New Digital Utilities: Cybersecurity, Cloud, and AI & Robotics (session length: 45:41), financial services and cybersecurity specialists take AI down to its elements. They explain that the technology is, in the words of one speaker, “remarkably unintelligent.” ChatGPT, for example, is merely a sophisticated pattern-matcher fueled by massive amounts of data and computational power. Hear from Efram Slen, Nasdaq head of index research; Dr. Robert (Bobby) Blumofe, Akamai executive VP and CTO; and Veronica Lancaster, CTA VP of standards programs.

It’s a complex topic but the consensus seems increasingly to be that AI is, at its core, a valuable tool for getting more done more quickly. That includes securing our critical systems and data. Get the facts. Visit the CES topic page on AI for insights, videos and articles. Check out CES 2023 sessions, including those that address cybersecurity and AI, all on demand.

AI Considered Through a Nasdaq-CTA Lens

The subject is artificial intelligence as a new season opens for CES Tech Talk. Nasdaq index experts discuss AI, considering where it’s been and where it’s going from a trends-and-indicators perspective. Following the money, two pros who are studying how investors engage with AI share insights. Find out what Sara Mehle, Nasdaq index research strategist, and Brian Comiskey, CTA director of thematic programs, see as they track this topical technology.

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Cybersecurity in the Age of AI: Expert Insights

AI and Cybercrime Implications

AI’s Not So Smart, Say Cybercrime Fighters

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