Aiming to raise awareness and debunk the hype surrounding the data science of machine learning in security analytics strategies, Hispanotech proudly hosted the event “Applying artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in Cybersecurity”. Its central tenet: “as threat actors innovate, so do the defenders, forcing security analytics to evolve beyond several security players’ machine learning claims”. The data science behind machine learning can be useful in larger analytics pipelines, and today’s needs call for everyone to join the conversation objectively; to do so, it is important to identify and evaluate the real value of vendors’ products and services – even without being a data scientist.

This event – which consisted of an evening full of insights, networking and great refreshments – brought thought-provoking discussions with industry leaders. The Keynote Speaker, TK Keanini, a distinguished Engineer & Product Line CTO for Analytics at Cisco Systems, with more than 25 years of security experience as well as a founding member of many security standards (such as CVE), presented Security Analytics Today and Tomorrow: From Static Lists to Machine Learning. By stating that today’s “attackers are not breaking in, they are logging in”, Mr. Keanini shared that behavioural detection through machine learning can be used to recognize those ‘outlier’ log-ins and many more suspicious activities. Further, these techniques can find threats in encrypted data without decryption. Additionally, he highlighted that ‘utility’ should be the ultimate performance indicator for these algorithms and recommended buyers of cybersecurity solutions to opt for vendors that have an ‘open attitude’ to publish articles, white papers and/or contribute in open-sourced platforms.

The second half of this event consisted of a panel discussion moderated by Fernando Martinez, Director of Consulting Services at CGI. It featured Mr Keanini accompanied by other leaders: Iain Paterson, Managing Director at Cycura with more than 15 years of experience in Information Security bridging the gap between technologists and senior leadership; Iman Abudagga, Data & Artificial Intelligence Product Lead at Microsoft and AI enthusiast with many years of experience in the ‘Cloud and Hosting’ business; Julean Albidone, AI Product Owner at Deloitte building the Applied Innovation Practice from the ground up by merging numerous technologies; and Eduardo Delgado, Enterprise Technology & Cybersecurity Associate VP at TD Bank leading cybersecurity initiatives.

The panel discussed the ‘double-edge’ nature of AI (by being open-sourced, both enterprises and attackers have access to the same tools), AI’s scalability can accelerate cybersecurity efforts and how the cloud strengthens AI’s capabilities by its ability to collect and access big data. Panellists agreed that financial institutions, academics, politics and other commercial entities are beginning to join the conversation to unlock the power of AI and conquer possible cybersecurity threats.

Hispanotech thanks the keynote speaker, panelists, KPMG and AGGlobe Services for making this incredible event possible.