It is commonly believed that technology will eventually replace many humans in their careers, and that the coronavirus outbreak is hastening the process. But, studies show that technology is here to aid humans in their careers.
People often express a desire for a human element in their experiences, but Covid-19 has changed that. It is going to shift user habits and open up a lot of new automation possibilities. Robots are now being used to perform tasks that workers are unable to complete at home. But are technologies going to aid humans or replace them altogether? Let’s shed some light into the effects of technology in the cybersecurity industry.
While robots and AI-based technologies are having a significant impact in some industries, such as deliveries and customer service, it is reasonable to say that machines will not take over the majority of our jobs in the next twenty years especially in the cybersecurity industry. Artificial intelligence can function alongside humans in the workplace, not replace them, according to experts.
“Technology innovation in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) has thus far been geared towards complementing humans in the security operations centre (SOC), versus replacing them. This is because to understand the mindset of an attacker, it is important to think like an attacker, which only a human can do as of 2021,” said Avinash Advani, Founder and CEO at CyberKnight. “With the multitude of tools and data processing required to combat modern cyberattacks, combined with the industry’s skills shortage problem, automation and orchestration across all cybersecurity domains using AI and ML, have become essential for organizations implementing Zero Trust Security,” he added.
We frequently hear that humans are the weakest link in cybersecurity, but people are a company’s most important asset, and there will be no business without their imagination, innovation, and operation. Although it is doubtful that technology would ever be able to completely replace humans, modern cybersecurity systems can be designed to fit people’s natural behaviours and can train and direct them to minimize danger. Organizations do not intend for technology to replace humans. Rather, they’ve been concentrating on using artificial intelligence (AI) to supplement human abilities, intending to allow people to concentrate on high-value activities rather than labour-intensive operations in the field of security, like data entry or error identification.
The aggressive threat environment includes hackers, identity robbers, advanced viruses, and intelligent malware. The most important reason to implement a cyber hygiene routine is security. Although anticipating threats is difficult, planning for and preventing them is possible with good cyber hygiene practices. Cybersecurity hygiene has come a long way since the introduction of Zero Trust Security. The concept of “Never Trust, Always Verify” has aided in the sanitization of users, computers, and applications, regardless of their location.
“Cybersecurity hygiene is more about ensuring systems and products are correctly configured, for example not leaving databases unsecured or unencrypted online. However, even in managing these cybersecurity best practices, we’ll come across the human error: the human error of the system engineer. People will make mistakes and rather than “sanitizing” people or “deleting” them we need to create systems that work with people: understand that mistakes will be made, and manage risk adaptively,” said Gihan Kovacs, Senior Country Sales Manager UAE and Pakistan, Forcepoint.
Humans are just one component of a system that poses a cybersecurity risk to a company. We’re dealing with a constantly changing environment of cybersecurity, and the “weakest link” could be any. Digital transformation strategies that do not provide intelligent protection for dynamic hybrid environments create gaps and this can be attributed as one of the key cybersecurity concern.
Mujtaba Mir, Senior Sales Engineer, META at Barracuda Networks, believes that is the lack of cybersecurity knowledge that results in vulnerabilities such as incorrectly configured security devices, unpatched systems, policies that don’t incorporate security best practices should be taken into consideration during cybersecurity threat detection. “Without the right knowledge, organizations can’t pinpoint the most pressing cybersecurity vulnerabilities – a factor that could vary greatly from one organization to the next,” he added.
Employees will benefit from training that will help them become more resilient to cyberattacks. Organizations would be better protected if they better understand the threats and know what systems and processes to follow. “With the right education, controls and technology, organisations can keep cybersecurity front of mind ensuring data remains protected and uncompromised,” said Kovacs.
Educating staff, rather than simply enforcing procedures, is the first step in improving an organization’s security posture. But that in itself is not enough. The technology should be simple and user friendly for the best result. “The consumerization of cybersecurity has not happened. The technologies are so complicated that you need specialised people to run those. The next phase of cybersecurity is how to consumerise cybersecurity. How to make it simple with AI, ML and automation tools built in that it is far easier for people to manage. The certifications have to go and the technologies should have an easy interface. The top actions needed to take to secure networks should be available on the dashboard,” said Anand Choudha, CEO and President at Spectrami.
There is no conflict between technology and humans. Embrace the change rather than fear it, as technology is here to aid and not replace.