The coming decade promises a transformative wave of AI across industries, boosting efficiency, user experience and growth by 2030. A Deloitte report projects the AI cybersecurity market to reach $102.78 billion by 2032, a testament to the pervasive adoption of AI.
However, this very technology presents a double-edged sword, as I mentioned in my article about AI being a friend or foe. While AI offers immense benefits, it is also being weaponized by malicious actors to craft evasive, unique and highly damaging zero-day attacks. These novel threats, unseen before, easily bypass traditional security solutions, and businesses are left vulnerable.
The gravity of this situation is further emphasized by data from Palo Alto Networks. Their findings reveal an average of 2.3 million new and unique cyber threats detected daily – threats that were nonexistent just the day before. Additionally, they block an average of 11.3 billion threats inline per day.
To help enterprises thwart AI-generated attacks and effectively secure AI-by-design, Palo Alto Networks recently introduced a host of new security solutions.
Leveraging their proprietary Precision AI platform (which combines machine learning, deep learning and generative AI), the company aims to deliver real-time, proactive network and infrastructure protection that outpaces cyber adversaries.
Precision AI is integrated across Palo Alto Networks' Strata, Prisma and Cortex platforms, offering new capabilities to address critical enterprise security needs:
The first capability is "countering AI with AI." This approach utilizes AI-powered security measures to combat the potential risks associated with malicious AI use. The Precision AI Security Bundle offers advanced security services, including URL filtering, threat prevention, WildFire analysis and DNS security, to block sophisticated web-based threats, zero-day attacks and other evasive tactics.
Another capability is to secure AI-by-design. This initiative fosters a secure AI ecosystem by prioritizing security framework integrity, enhancing compliance and minimizing data exposure throughout the AI development lifecycle.
There is also AI Access Security. This solution lets workforces confidently utilize AI tools while providing security teams with comprehensive visibility, robust controls, data protection and proactive threat prevention.
Prisma Cloud AI Security Posture Management safeguards AI ecosystems by identifying vulnerabilities and prioritizing misconfigurations in AI models, applications and resources. It improves compliance, minimizes data exposure and strengthens the overall integrity of AI security frameworks.
AI Runtime Security allows companies to build AI-powered applications with confidence by securing the entire AI app ecosystem. It protects against runtime threats such as prompt injections, model denial-of-service attacks and insecure outputs.
Then, there’s enhanced Code to Cloud capabilities. New AI functionalities include attack path and blast radius analysis, along with guided remediation. These features help uncover complex risks, potential breach pathways, and steps for swift remediation.
Lastly, there’s simplifying security with AI. Copilots powered by Precision AI are implemented across all three Palo Alto Networks platforms. These AI-driven assistants aim to deliver more autonomous security by offering context-driven insights, actionable automation, proactive guidance and integrated support.
"Enterprises must move even faster beyond disparate processes and solutions to recognize the benefits of a connected platform that represents more than just a tech stack," said Nikesh Arora, chairman and CEO, Palo Alto Networks. "Platformization is the approach needed, and integrated solutions that can both protect and enable AI are integral to achieving results. Precision AI by Palo Alto Networks is the game changer that will create a new paradigm in security — perhaps for the first time — where the defender is ahead of the adversary."
Palo Alto Networks unlocks the full potential of its Precision AI technology through a platformized- approach that integrates security capabilities and data access. This strategy eliminates the need for separate, fragmented security solutions.
Edited by
Alex Passett
