Aruba Global Research Report Reveals AI Technology Will Become a Powerful Tool to Meet Security Challenges in the IoT Era

On October 26, 2018, Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, commissioned the Ponemon Institute, an independent research institution in the United States, to release a research report titled "Automation and Artificial Intelligence Fill Security Shortcomings in the Internet of Things Era". The report pointed out that increasingly complex network security threats have put great pressure on enterprises. In the era of mobility and the Internet of Things, the boundaries of IT are disappearing. At the same time, there is a serious shortage of high-level network security talents. In this situation, enterprise IT teams need to adopt new methods and more powerful tools to protect the security of data and other high-value assets. Artificial intelligence technology has gradually become a favorable weapon to deal with security threats to IT infrastructure.

Aurba and the Ponemon Institute surveyed 4,000 cybersecurity and IT professionals in the Americas, Europe and Asia to understand what factors make security issues difficult to crack and what technology and processes are needed to help companies be proactive and aware of various security threats.

The results of the study show that in the work of protecting data and other high-value assets, security systems that use machine learning and other AI-based technologies play a key role in detecting and preventing attacks on users and IoT devices. Most respondents in the Asia-Pacific region agree that security products with AI capabilities can bring the following benefits to the enterprise:

• Reduce false alarms (66%)
• Improve team efficiency (62%)
• Lead to higher investigation efficiency (57%)
• Improving the team’s ability to quickly detect and respond to attacks that escape perimeter defenses (53%)

In addition, 29% of respondents in the Asia-Pacific region said they are currently using some form of machine learning or other AI-based security solutions. Another 29% said they plan to deploy such products within the next year. This shows that companies are increasingly motivated to proactively change their security strategies and adopt new technologies.

Existing security tools are unable to cope with threats

"Despite huge investments in cybersecurity, companies are still struggling to keep up with new and more targeted attacks. For example, in the Asia-Pacific region, 59% of respondents said that the value of their deployed defense systems, which include 10-75 security solutions, is not fully recognized," said Larry Ponemon, president of the Ponemon Institute. "On the one hand, almost half of the respondents said that it is very difficult to deal with the current complex and ever-changing cyber attacks, especially in the absence of experienced cybersecurity talent. On the other hand, cyber attackers are getting more aggressive, and they may have received rigorous training and received financial support. Therefore, if AI-based security tools can automatically handle tasks, IT staff can be freed up to focus more on managing security plans and dealing with more complex and ever-changing security issues."

The access to the cloud and IoT increases security risks

The research team found that most IT security teams in Asia Pacific believe that a key flaw in corporate security strategies is that they have difficulty identifying attacks from IoT devices. More than three-quarters of respondents believe that the IoT devices they access are not secure enough. 75% of people said that even simple IoT devices can pose security threats. Two-thirds of people admitted that they feel powerless in protecting IoT devices from attacks. In fact, continuous monitoring of network traffic, closed-loop detection and response systems, and detection of abnormal behavior between IoT devices are all effective ways to protect the corporate network environment.

In addition, the ambiguity of management authority has also led to increased security risks. For example, when answering the question about who should be responsible for IoT security management within the enterprise, the respondents mentioned CIOs, CISOs (Chief Information Security Officers), CTOs, and business line leaders. Only 33% of the respondents said that IoT security should be the responsibility of the CIO, more than 20% said that no other decision-making department or team responded to IoT security, and even 15% said that no one in their company was responsible for it, which became the third-ranked answer.

The survey results show that visualization and setting access rights for IoT devices are critical to security management. In the Asia-Pacific region, 48% of respondents said that network permission management is an important part of the company's overall security strategy and plays a key role in reducing the scope of internal attacks. Although 74% of respondents said that their companies have deployed network permission control, only 16% of them can always keep track of users and devices connected to the corporate network.

In addition, more than half of respondents worldwide said that the ever-expanding IT boundaries make it difficult for them to manage IoT, BYOD, mobile and cloud systems at the same time.

Taking the initiative to disrupt network management with innovative solutions

To proactively embrace this series of changes, Aruba is exploring the application of AI technology in network management, thereby providing customers with a more intelligent solution. For example, IntroSpect behavioral analysis security software forms an accurate and visual user behavior portrait based on the user's Internet habits. When the platform identifies abnormal or high-risk Internet behavior of users, it can issue a timely warning before the harm occurs, and transmit the information to the ClearPass platform on the platform to repair these attacks. In addition, ClearPass Profiler can automatically identify any device connected to the Internet of Things and determine its risk. This is not just the promotion of new management tools, but also reflects the disruptive change of security strategies.

It is worth mentioning that the results of this study, jointly conducted with the Ponemon Institute, coincide with some of the results in Aruba's earlier report "Digital Revolution Unlocking the Potential of Intelligent Digital Workplaces", which also reveals the severity of cybersecurity threats.

Regarding the significance of this report, Xie Jianguo, president of Aruba China, said, "Working with the Ponemon Institute helps us better understand the challenges faced by security teams, which in turn helps us improve our own capabilities and provide customers with integrated and more comprehensive solutions for their wired and wireless network security frameworks, thereby helping them calmly respond to security threats and continuously optimize customer experience."