Seven Startups That Offer AI Based Cybersecurity Solutions

The world we live in is becoming increasingly digitalized. From education to entertainment, industries across the board are adopting digital technology at an unprecedented rate.

Nearly every device we use is connected to the internet and we upload and download a large volume of data on a regular basis. While it has made our lives incredibly convenient, it has also made us vulnerable to cyber attacks by unscrupulous elements that thrive behind the cloak of anonymity provided by the internet.

In the recent past, there have been a number of cyber attacks which impacted hundreds of millions of people around the world. The cyber attack on Yahoo in 2017, for instance, exposed the data of over three billion users from around the world. Similarly, the cyber attack on Equifax in 2017 exposed the data of nearly 150 million users in the US.

The devastation caused by these cyber attacks has convinced many companies that they can no longer rely on outdated technologies to secure their data. As a result, they have turned to artificial intelligence based cybersecurity solutions.

In this article, we take a look at seven startups that have developed highly advanced cybersecurity solutions based on artificial intelligence and machine learning.

  1. Darktrace

Based In: Cambridge, United Kingdom

Darktrace has developed an AI based cybersecurity system which can detect and respond to cyber threats and attacks in real time. It employs a machine-learning algorithm, which analyzes large amounts of data, tracks the activities of users on the network, and studies patterns to understand what constitutes normal user activities.

Based on its understanding, it sets a baseline of standard user activities called the pattern of life and flags any activity on the network which deviates from the baseline.

  1. Balbix

Based In: San Jose, California

Balbix tracks all the devices and apps connected to your network as well as the users who are active on your network. It uses specialized AI algorithms to predict different scenarios under which your network can be breached and develops solutions for the same. It also prescribes a set of actions that you can take to eliminate 95% of cybersecurity risks and protect your network.

  1. Cybereason

Based In: Boston, Massachusetts

Cybereason’s cross-machine correlation engine is designed to analyze volumes of data, track user activities, detect unusual activities and threats, and resolve the problems in real time. It collects and analyzes a large volume of data on a daily basis to differentiate between good user behavior and bad user behavior. Based on its understanding, it blocks cyber attacks and threats preemptively.

 

  1. Cylance

Based In: Irvine, California

Cylance offers four different AI based cybersecurity products – CylanceGUARD, CylanceOPTICS, CylancePROTECT, and Cylance Smart Antivirus. The products focus on the end point, which is where a vast majority of cyber attacks take place – and protect your network from external threats. It preemptively neutralizes known threats and responds to zero-day threats in real time without requiring any human intervention.

  1. Obsidian Security

Based In: Newport Beach, California

Obsidian’s machine learning platform is designed to protect SaaS and cloud services from cyber threats. It constantly monitors user accounts, privileges, service configurations, and various other activities to clearly define normal behavioral patterns – at an individual level as well at a group level. Whenever it detects an abnormal or suspicious activity, it raises an alarm.

  1. SentinelOne

Based In: Mountain View, California

SentinelOne uses multiple AI based algorithms to provide network and cloud security. Behavioral AI algorithms constantly look for anomalies in user activities and processes and respond to them in real time. Static AI algorithms provide endpoint protection and protect your network against a wide range of threat vectors.

  1. Vectra

Based In: San Jose, California

Vectra’s AI based Cognito platform collects large volumes of metadata from data center, enterprise, and cloud environments, enriches the collected data with the security information derived by AI based algorithms, and analyzes behavioral patterns to learn what constitutes ‘attacker behavior’.

It is a cyber threat detection system, which means it cannot take any action on its own to neutralize the threats. In the event of a cyber attack or a threat, it notifies you immediately and provides all the relevant information you need to eliminate the threat.

 

The Future of Cybersecurity

The emergence of AI and machine learning has redefined the very concept of cybersecurity as we know it. Unlike traditional cybersecurity solutions, which are designed to react and respond to threats, AI based cybersecurity solutions are designed to predict, detect, quarantine, and neutralize threats before they can damage the system. They save time, eliminate the need for human intervention to a large extent, and protect your systems and servers against the widest possible range of threats.

As cyber attacks get more and more sophisticated in nature, AI and machine learning platforms – which are designed to evolve and modify their behavior based on threat perception – might be our best bet to protect our data.