Why AI is playing a growing role in helping SOC teams keep up with cyber threats

Most security operations center (SOC) teams find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place. Threat actors are becoming steadily more effective, organized, and aggressive. At the same time, the average IT environment has grown twice as complex over the last five years. That can only mean we can expect these environments to become twice as dense within another five.

SOC teams therefore struggle to keep up with an overwhelming flood of alerts and prioritizing the most critical threats. This is only compounded by chronic staff shortages.

Security teams end up on the defensive, forced to react to issues rather than proactively addressing risks.

With the speed and scope of cybersecurity threats overwhelming SOC personnel, the superhuman capabilities of AI may offer one of the best chances of keeping up.

The growing burden on SOC teams

SOC teams face an unrelenting workload that highlights the imbalance between attackers and defenders. It’s always been the case that the attackers only need to succeed once, while defenders must constantly triumph to protect their operations. But the aggressors have the odds stacking in their favor with new tools and techniques, running heavily automated operations that allow them to ramp up both the quantity and quality of their attacks.

For example, AI tools are enabling cybercriminal gangs to easily create highly targeted phishing campaigns. Rather than manually trawling for information and attempting to create convincing fakes, threat actors can use AI to swiftly find out about key personnel at potential targets, or where they are hosted, and populate a list of useful elements to include.

Within moments, attackers can be armed with convincing phishing emails impersonating a CEO asking his CFO to authorize a payment, complete with little details like mentions of the upcoming company sales conference.

Even without these insidious new tactics, SOC teams would have their hands full due to the unchecked expansion of hybrid IT environments. A focus on digital growth spanning on-premises systems, cloud computing infrastructure, and mobile and IoT devices has dramatically increased the attack surface — yet Gartner estimates that only 17% of organizations can clearly identify the majority of their software assets. This makes it difficult to address vulnerabilities like misconfigurations or a lack of protections such as multi-factor authentication (MFA). Additionally, this lack of reliable inventory and overview means SOC teams are frequently overwhelmed by the volume of alerts, struggling to sift through countless notifications with already limited staff and resources.

AI as a game-changer in cybersecurity

Defending these complex environments and keeping up with threats requires security teams to match and exceed the speed and efficiency of their attackers. Gartner has predicted that companies investing in continuous threat exposure management programs can reduce breaches by two-thirds, with tools like AI-powered analytics playing a major role.

Yet while the criminal element has been quick to integrate AI into its operations, many security vendors are still reluctant. It’s a similar situation to the early days of the cloud, where there was a great deal of mistrust about its security and reliability. As a whole, security teams and vendors have spent more time thinking about AI as a threat than as a potential tool for enhancing their operations.

However, again echoing cloud uptake, end-user organizations are increasingly looking to make use of AI, regardless of the potential risks. The security industry cannot ignore AI, but instead must seek to guide its use responsibly.

AI offers a solution to many of the challenges SOC teams face by addressing visibility gaps, enhancing threat detection, and improving response efficiency.

One of the most important capabilities is the consolidation of disparate data streams from tools such as endpoint detection systems, identity management platforms, and cloud monitors. This unified approach reduces alert fatigue, providing analysts with actionable insights that improve decision-making.

Implementing AI into security workflows also automates some of the more tedious processes, allowing security teams to focus on high-priority threats. By filtering out low-risk alerts, it removes the noise that often hinders effective decision-making. AI can rapidly triage vulnerabilities, prioritizing those actively being exploited or posing the greatest risk to the organization.

Along with helping beleaguered SOC teams keep up, AI also has some powerful applications in improving proactive security. For example, combining data from across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments, enables organizations to identify hidden or misconfigured assets creating vulnerabilities across their attack surface.

We have also seen impressive results in using AI to enhance the detection of zero-day vulnerabilities. AI accelerates the identification of behavioral anomalies, isolating threats before they escalate into full-scale incidents.

Addressing AI risks and challenges

While AI has huge potential to help improve cybersecurity, security vendors and SOC teams must be aware of the potential risks.

We often find that organizations fail to apply the same thoroughness to their AI models as they do to other key systems, leaving them vulnerable to misuse or exploitation. All AI tools need to be carefully vetted to assess how they interact with other systems, and any potential risks and attack vectors must be mapped out.

Further, misusing AI tools, such as by uploading sensitive data to unsecured platforms, can expose organizations to breaches. Strict use policies should be put in place so all users know the acceptable uses for any solutions.

For vendors and SOCs operating as MSSPs, it’s also important to consider potential customer reactions to AI usage. Ask anyone if they’d like a service delivered by an automated system or by human hands, and they’ll undoubtedly pick the human. So it’s critical to frame AI as a tool enhancing the skilled human personnel for the SOC team, rather than a replacement for the human touch.

With a solid implementation plan that considers all the angles, AI tools can be deployed to their full potential without introducing any unnecessary new risks.

The future of AI-powered SOCs

AI is proving to be a critical tool in helping SOC teams manage the growing complexities of cybersecurity. By enhancing visibility, automating repetitive tasks, and prioritizing critical risks, it enables teams to operate more efficiently and effectively.

As attackers increasingly use AI to enhance their methods, organizations must keep pace to remain resilient.

However, there is still no substitute for real human intelligence, and AI is most powerful when combined with human expertise, creating a collaborative approach that addresses both routine and complex challenges.

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