Feature: How AI is helping us make network security even better

Rachel Rothwell, senior regional director Zyxel Networks, believes that AI can be used positively to enhance protection and deliver better user experiences.

Everyone is talking about artificial intelligence (AI) at the moment. They are right to be excited as this is a technology that could – and probably will – change our lives for good and for the better. However, there are also some potential threats that come with AI and one of those is how cybercriminals might use it to circumvent network security systems and steal personal and business identities.

Should you be worried? Yes and no. Yes, AI will certainly be used to accelerate activity and enhance the ability of threat actors to break into systems. No, in the sense that, as long as you continue to take all the precautions you should be taking, we should still be able to combat the risk of a network security breach or virus infiltration.

While cybercriminals might be able to use this rapidly-evolving technology to become more of a threat, we in the industry can use and are using AI to enhance protection and make our unified security gateways smarter and more intuitive.

Enterprise protection at SMB prices

In fact, we have been using AI and machine learning in our products, in our Nebula cloud management platform, and in our global threat prevention network for some time now. AI is built into the new Zyxel Networks USG Flex H firewall appliances, for example, which provides excellent all-round protection and enterprise-class digital security at SMB prices.

All our USG products are constantly updated from our security cloud, which is continually gathering input from our connected devices all over the world and sending out updates that will protect networks against new threats. This means that the security of all Zyxel connected devices and the networks they support is constantly evolving, providing enhanced protection for customers.

We have also added built-in protection to our WiFi access points and switches and enabled them to share information between Nebula-connected devices on the local network. We apply AI and machine learning (ML) technology to this data to identify the threats being used most often to attack that kind of network. We then apply a unique set of signature profiles for enhanced protection.

Collaborative detection and response

In addition, Nebula’s collaborative detection and response (CDR) feature continuously checks for any devices that might be unsafe and is able to contain them in accordance with conditions set by the administrator or MSP. We also provide sandboxing capabilities that will isolate network packets or files until they are properly checked.

We have been using AI and ML to give our WiFi customers a better experience and make life easier for MSPs and network admins. With our WiFi Health feature, we monitor the connections between access points and client devices to check for interference and anything else that might impact performance. It also looks for unusual or unexpected patterns and alerts you if there seems to be an issue with a particular connection or access point.

The WiFi Aid feature looks beyond the link between the access point and the client device at what happens on the network itself. If a user is experiencing slow speeds, it might not be the WiFi – it could be the connection between the access point and the wired network, or an issue on the network itself. Or with the broadband, Ethernet, or other type of external connection.

WiFi Health and WiFi Aid collect and analyse information and learn from it, and as a result, we can constantly improve reliability, performance and protection for customers.

A positive force

All this has been made possible by advances in AI and ML and despite the potential challenges and threats, we believe that AI presents an opportunity – to get results faster, more efficiently and more accurately and to accelerate research and development and address challenges in ways not previously imagined.

As AI continues to develop and improve, there will be even more potential to harness it as a positive force. We can use AI to make network defences smarter and better equipped to recognise and repel more sophisticated efforts to infiltrate or corrupt systems. To make networks faster and more reliable than ever and to monitor the health of networks and take action that will prevent potential problems becoming real issues.