The role of AI in security has come under severe scrutiny in recent years as companies of all sizes look to establish their footing in the industry.
The recent Google Cloud Next 24 event saw a major focus on AI, but security was also a prominent presence, with a number of security-focused releases and services unveiled at the conference.
Since its acquisition in September 2022, Mandiant has played a major role in helping boost the security of Google’s entire security portfolio, and we sat down with Kevin Mandia the company’s CEO, to find out just how big a role AI can play in helping stop the latest threats around today.
AI advantage?
“We get asked a lot – what is AI, and is it an advantage, the defence or the offence?” Mandia tells us.
“AI is another technology that’s coming along that good people will use, and bad people will use – it’s just another tool in the toolbox now.”
Google was keen to promote the role that AI can play in security during Cloud Next 2024, revealing a host of new updates and upgrades that leverage Mandiant services.
This includes Gemini in Threat Intelligence, part of the new Gemini in Security platform, which allows users to utilize conversational search to quickly discover details on existing issues or threat actors, as well as offering researchers automated web crawling for relevant open source intelligence (OSINT) articles, ingesting information and providing concise summaries to help the fightback.
Elsewhere, Gemini in Security Operations is also able to use natural language to explain key findings to security admins and professionals via its assisted investigations feature. Once a threat is detected, the platform can summarize event data, then recommend the next steps to take to contain or mitigate, and help guide users through the platform using easy-to-follow instructions and prompts.