'TeleSign embeds trust at every touchpoint,' assures Joseph Burton

Media 7 | December 8, 2021

Joseph Burton, Chief Executive Officer at TeleSign elaborates on Promotion Abuse, Communication Fraud, and Buy Now Pay Later Fraud. Read on to know about the biggest online financial threat for consumers and much more.

In 2022, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) will continue to be a top retail priority. As BNPL growth continues to surge – so will the opportunities for fraudsters.


MEDIA 7: Thank you so much for doing this with us! It’s the holiday season, shopping and online transactions are happening on a large scale. What is the biggest online financial threat for consumers?
JOSEPH BURTON:
When it comes to cybercrime, essentially every person has been a victim – 9 out of 10 people have been subject to credit card fraud, identity theft, or a data breach. Millions of usernames and passwords, physical addresses, credit card numbers, and social security numbers are breached every week and are made available on the dark web. With all of that Personable Identifiable Information (PII) online, synthetic identity theft has become the fastest-growing type of financial fraud in the United States. Unlike traditional identity theft where criminals steal a specific person’s identity, synthetic identity theft involves creating a new, fictitious identity. Fraudsters use a mix of real and fake information – social security numbers, phone numbers, addresses, and birth dates – to create a fake identity.

Fraudsters use these synthetic identities to apply for credit cards and loans, illegally purchase goods online, and create fake product reviews. Synthetic identity fraud creates financial and reputational consequences for consumers, retailers, and financial institutions. For consumers, they are at risk of unauthorized purchases on their credit or debit cards and negative marks on their credit score. And their purchase decisions can be influenced by fake, positively inflated product reviews. Synthetic identity fraud is made possible by elaborate phishing and social engineering schemes. Fraudsters use deceitful emails, text messages, phone calls, and web pages to coerce PII from unsuspecting consumers. Phishing attacks are Pandora’s box to consumer fraud.





M7: Online retailers are now required to improve their security measures given the rise in threats to data privacy. How is TeleSign contributing to the fight against fraud?
JB:
Fraud is increasingly common, costly, and complex. With billions of targets and trillions of dollars at stake, fraudsters have found their groove. 2021 was the first time that successful fraud attempts outnumbered those prevented. In the last 24 months, half – 47% – of companies experienced fraud. Fraudulent losses are significant. On average, businesses lose 5% of their annual revenue to fraud. In addition to the financial risk, fraud introduces a lack of customer satisfaction, as well as reputational & legal damages. Faced with an array of sophisticated attacks, TeleSign helps security teams create a multilayered fraud prevention framework using digital identity signals, machine learning algorithms, and behavioral risk assessments to stay one step ahead of bad actors.

Throughout every stage of the customer journey, TeleSign helps to detect and defend against fraud. When onboarding new customers, businesses can layer in digital identity signals to flag risky users, block fake users, while giving legitimate users a fast and frictionless sign-up experience. For active accounts, TeleSign embeds trust at every touchpoint, ensuring every log-in is secure and every transaction is safe. TeleSign's zero-trust approach assesses the risk of every interaction to maintain the integrity of every account.



Read More: Gartner’s Akhil Gopinath advises, ‘To pivot your business model and grow out of the pandemic phase’


When consumers can use their preferred communication channels, more than half are more likely to recommend, buy more, or make a first-time purchase.



M7: TeleSign focuses on Promotion Abuse, Communication Fraud, and Buy Now Pay Later Fraud. These terms are relatively new, could you please elaborate on these for our readers?
JB: Communications Fraud/IRSF (G)


Despite plaguing the telecom industry for more than two decades, International Revenue Share Fraud (IRSF) is a relatively unknown type of attack and it’s experiencing a digital resurgence. IRSF is caused by the artificial inflation of call traffic to premium-rate numbers across the world. Generally, the fraudster leases expensive phone numbers – like psychic or dating hotlines – from an International Premium Rate Number Providers (IPRN) and both parties receive a share of the revenue for every call that’s placed. Over the last couple of years, we have seen fraudsters deploy new, sophisticated tactics to generate a higher volume of calls. For example, using bots and automated scripts, fraudsters can create millions of fake account creations or password reset requests. They nefariously attack web and mobile applications knowing that a voice call – to the premium number they profit on– is a component of account registration or password reset flow. IRSF is sneaky and happens behind the scenes. It is responsible for a $4-6 billion loss each year.

Promotion Abuse

As the retail season kicks into high gear, retailers must create compelling offers, discounts, and promotions to attract customers. But for many retailers, promotions are a double-edged sword. While they keep customers loyal and increase conversion rates, the inevitable abuse of promotions is costly. Promotion abuse occurs when one consumer uses multiple accounts to take advantage of rewards, sales, or other discounts. From sign-up bonuses to coupon codes, three out of four retailers (73%) have experienced promotion abuse in the last 12 months, which equates to an approximate 1.2% loss of revenue. To cut down on promotion abuse, retailers need to close their loopholes and prevent consumers from creating multiple accounts with fake email addresses and/or phone numbers.

Buy Now Pay Later Fraud

Convenience, useability, and affordability: a recipe for consumer success. It is those benefits that have made Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) platforms a ubiquitous success. A modern ‘payment plan’ and reimagined ‘layaway,’ BNPL is short-term financing that allows consumers to make a purchase and receive it immediately, but pay for it at a later time, usually over a series of installments. In 2022, BNPL will continue to be a top retail priority and I expect to see retailers extend BNPL payment options in their physical retail stores. As BNPL growth continues to surge – so will the opportunities for fraudsters.



2021 was the first time that successful fraud attempts outnumbered those prevented.



M7: TeleSign connects and protects online experiences with its engagement solutions. What are the different ways TeleSign helps ensure secure and reliable customer communication?
JB:
Communication across the customer journey is dynamic. Eighty-two percent of B2B buyers and 72% of B2C customers use multiple communication channels throughout their path to purchase. In fact, the availability of multichannel communication increases the bottom line. According to Forrester, when consumers can use their preferred communication channels, more than half are more likely to recommend, buy more, or make a first-time purchase. To excel in today’s competitive markets, it’s critical to make your customer communication fast, easy, and secure. From account verification to purchase confirmation, TeleSign delivers reliable communication across the customer journey.

As the pioneer of SMS verification, TeleSign helps connect the world’s most trusted brands to their customers. Our programmable engagement solution empowers businesses to embed messaging, voice, and authentication capabilities into their product and applications via developer-friendly APIs. TeleSign is at the forefront of keeping the digital economy secure, with an established presence on nearly every communications channel. Our customers can create tailored, omnichannel user experiences. And with a global footprint, more than seven hundred direct-to-carrier routes, and constant network traffic monitoring, TeleSign’s dependability is unmatched.



Read More: IDC’s Ritu Jyoti believes ‘Technology investments like AI are critical enablers to business agility’

M7: You have had an exemplary professional journey of over 30 years. Seeing the rapid change in technology and digitalization what future do you predict for this industry?
JB:
Today we’re protecting humans, tomorrow we’re protecting devices and machines – bringing the digital identity business to twenty-five billion devices.


ABOUT TELESIGN

TeleSign provides continuous trust to leading global enterprises by connecting, protecting, and defending their digital identities. TeleSign verifies over five billion unique phone numbers a month, representing half of the world’s mobile users, and provides critical insight into the remaining billions. The company’s powerful AI and extensive data science deliver identity with a unique combination of speed, accuracy, and global reach. TeleSign solutions prevent fraud, secure communications, and enable the digital economy by allowing companies and customers to engage with confidence. Learn more at www.telesign.com and follow us on Twitter at @TeleSign.

More C-Suite on deck

‘Data and analytics play a crucial role in shaping our advertising strategies,' asserts Aleksander Groshev

Media 7 | June 28, 2023

Aleksander Groshev is the CEO and Co-Founder of Autobahn Security. Previously he was Vice President of Product responsible for the product development of the SaaS platform. Before joining Autobahn Security he held the position of Head of Product at Fincite, a wealth management B2B platform.

Read More

'AI & ML algorithms will play a critical role in identifying cyber threats,' asserts Trishneet Arora

Media 7 | July 28, 2023

Trishneet Arora, a self-made individual, demonstrated remarkable vision, intellect, and competence when he established a startup at the young age of 19. Under his guidance, the flagship venture has expanded into both the entertainment and educational sectors. With Trishneet at the helm, the potential for growth and success knows no bounds. Let's delve into his insights on securing UPI-based applications.

Read More

‘Security solutions need to be consistent, regardless of geography or technical stack,’ emphasizes Nishant Kaushik

Media 7 | June 16, 2023

Nishant Kaushik is an excellent technologist with strategic foresight and tactical know-how to manage technology-driven businesses and security expansion plans. He has successfully led cross-functional and highly focused teams to achieve business objectives that align with customer needs. Read this interview to discover Nishant’s expertise and unique perspective on omnichannel security and risk management.

Read More

‘Data and analytics play a crucial role in shaping our advertising strategies,' asserts Aleksander Groshev

Media 7 | June 28, 2023

Aleksander Groshev is the CEO and Co-Founder of Autobahn Security. Previously he was Vice President of Product responsible for the product development of the SaaS platform. Before joining Autobahn Security he held the position of Head of Product at Fincite, a wealth management B2B platform.

Read More

'AI & ML algorithms will play a critical role in identifying cyber threats,' asserts Trishneet Arora

Media 7 | July 28, 2023

Trishneet Arora, a self-made individual, demonstrated remarkable vision, intellect, and competence when he established a startup at the young age of 19. Under his guidance, the flagship venture has expanded into both the entertainment and educational sectors. With Trishneet at the helm, the potential for growth and success knows no bounds. Let's delve into his insights on securing UPI-based applications.

Read More

‘Security solutions need to be consistent, regardless of geography or technical stack,’ emphasizes Nishant Kaushik

Media 7 | June 16, 2023

Nishant Kaushik is an excellent technologist with strategic foresight and tactical know-how to manage technology-driven businesses and security expansion plans. He has successfully led cross-functional and highly focused teams to achieve business objectives that align with customer needs. Read this interview to discover Nishant’s expertise and unique perspective on omnichannel security and risk management.

Read More

Related News

API Security

Salt Security, CrowdStrike Expands Partnership with New Integration

Salt Security | September 20, 2023

Salt Security, a prominent API security company, has announced the expansion of its partnership with CrowdStrike, a leading cybersecurity technology company providing cloud workload and endpoint security, cyberattack response, and threat intelligence services. This expansion involves the integration of the Salt Security API Protection Platform with the widely recognized CrowdStrike Falcon Platform. Roey Eliyahu, Co-founder and CEO of Salt Security, stated, Protecting against API threats requires deep visibility and robust runtime protection. We’re excited to bring our unique strengths in API security to the CrowdStrike customer base with this new integration. Together with CrowdStrike, Salt can provide organizations with extended runtime protections and posture management across the cloud and application landscapes. [Source – Cision PR Newswire] Through this integration, customers gain access to a comprehensive 360-degree view of API security risks, particularly focusing on the application-layer attack surface. This integration is accessible via the CrowdStrike Marketplace and provides valuable API threat intelligence. It also enhances cross-organization API security capabilities by streamlining and enhancing the workflows related to API auditing, monitoring, and enforcement. The partnership between Salt Security, offering top-notch API runtime monitoring and AI-driven insights, and CrowdStrike, renowned for its award-winning AI-powered protection, provides organizations with complete visibility into their API attack surface. This integration also offers valuable context regarding the severity of threats in relation to business-critical aspects. With this partnership, customers benefit from: API vulnerability and threat context API threat mitigation API threat management automation The patented Salt API security platform stands out for its utilization of cloud-scale big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML). These technologies work in tandem to automate the process of discovering and cataloging an organization's entire set of APIs. Salt plays a crucial role in pinpointing areas where APIs might expose sensitive data. This proactive approach aids enterprises in recognizing and mitigating potential API threats while also reinforcing their overall API security. Gur Talpaz, Head of Falcon Fund and Vice President of Corporate Development at CrowdStrike, said, With APIs now a prime target for malicious actors, securing them requires a comprehensive and diligent approach. Through this joint integration, we can harness the mature AI-driven intelligence of the Salt API security platform with our widely deployed Falcon platform, giving organizations complete visibility into their application-layer attack surface and a detailed understanding of their application threat landscape. [Source – Cision PR Newswire] About Salt Security Salt Security is a leading API security company that safeguards the APIs at the core of all modern applications. Its API Protection Platform is the sole API security solution that integrates the power of cloud-scale big data with time-tested machine learning and artificial intelligence to detect and prevent API attacks. Salt provides extensive context, real-time analysis, and continuous insights for API discovery, hardening APIs, and attack prevention by correlating the activities of millions of APIs and users over time.

Read More

Software Security

Lacework and Snowflake Expand Their Alliance to Secure Cloud Business

Lacework | September 15, 2023

Lacework, a company specializing in data-driven cloud security, and Snowflake, a prominent Data Cloud company, have jointly announced an expanded partnership. This partnership aims to propel the evolution of cloud infrastructure while enhancing cloud security automation at scale. Through this extended collaboration, security teams gain direct access to their Lacework cloud security data using Snowflake's secure data sharing, thus enabling unified visibility and tailored automation. Ulfar Erlingsson, Chief Architect, Lacework, said, Snowflake has been a dedicated platform partner as Lacework has scaled our business to support over 900 customers — ranging from small, early-stage startups to some of the most sophisticated enterprises running in the cloud space today — whose operations result in tremendous volume, variety, and velocity of security-relevant data. [Source – Cision PR Newswire] Erlingsson mentioned that, over the past seven years, Lacework had successfully conducted timely and efficient data processing by utilizing the Snowflake Data Cloud, even among a highly skewed set of customers. He further explained that their extended partnership with Snowflake would enhance their ability to serve joint customers at a cloud scale. This would apply whether customers needed them to handle only a small amount of security data or data processing at rates as high as 10s of gigabytes per second. As generative AI advances and becomes more accessible across various industries, the frequency and severity of cybersecurity threats are on the rise. This trend is driven by businesses accelerating their development processes and increasing cloud data generation. Addressing this new era of cloud security necessitates a fundamentally fresh approach, and Lacework's platform is designed to efficiently manage the substantial volume of data within an organization's cloud ecosystem. This includes data related to code, identities, containers, and multi-cloud infrastructure, with Snowflake serving as a critical platform partner. Through the combined capabilities of Lacework's security platform and Snowflake's Data Cloud, customers gain the ability to extend the value of cloud security data throughout their organization. This enables organizations to thoroughly assess their security and compliance status. Head of Cybersecurity Strategy at Snowflake, Omer Singer, said, Among the many potential advantages of generative AI is the ability for enterprises to deploy new applications faster, which places even more emphasis on the need to have scalable infrastructure and solutions. The combination of Snowflake and Lacework will continue to assist organizations scale their cloud businesses securely in the new era. [Source – Cision PR Newswire] About Lacework Lacework protects organizations in the cloud, enabling them to innovate with greater speed and assurance. Lacework's platform is designed to scale with the variety, volume, and velocity of cloud data across an organization's cloud environment, including code, containers, identities, and multi-cloud infrastructure. Only Lacework provides Security and Development teams with a connected and prioritized end-to-end view that identifies the most significant hazards and security events. About Snowflake The Snowflake enables all organizations to mobilize their data with its Data Cloud. Customers utilize the Data Cloud to integrate disparate data sources, power data applications, discover and securely share data, and implement a variety of AI/ML and analytic workloads. Snowflake provides a singular data experience that transcends multiple clouds and geographies, regardless of where data or users reside. Snowflake Data Cloud is used by thousands of customers across numerous industries, including 639 of the 2023 Forbes Global 2000 as of July 31, 2023.

Read More

Cloud Security

Google Cloud Next 2023 Embraces Generative AI for Safer Digital Future

Google | September 18, 2023

Google reveals its pioneering approach to applying generative AI in cybersecurity at the Google Cloud Next conference in San Francisco. Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai's keynote emphasizes Google's AI-first approach and the transformative impact of AI across industries. Google introduces innovative security updates and trends, highlighting its commitment to enhancing cybersecurity capabilities. Google Cloud extends Duet AI to three key products in preview mode, empowering security teams to address complex cybersecurity challenges more efficiently. Google unveiled its pioneering approach to applying generative AI in cybersecurity at the Google Cloud Next conference in San Francisco. This significant revelation follows the broader accessibility of generative AI, made possible earlier this year by technologies like ChatGPT. Google's strategic endeavor aims to harness the potential of AI to combat cybersecurity challenges. Additionally, the event featured a keynote address by Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who underscored the transformative influence of AI across sectors and emphasized Google's extensive history of adopting an AI-first approach. During the conference, Google seized the opportunity to introduce innovative security updates and trends, signifying its commitment to enhancing cybersecurity capabilities for its customers. These developments come at a time when the integration of AI technologies in addressing cybersecurity concerns has gained substantial attention and recognition. Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, a prominent figure in the technology industry, initiated the conference, reiterating the profound influence of AI across various sectors, industries, and business functions. His emphasis on Google's decade-long dedication to an AI-first approach solidified the company's leadership position in this transformative era. Furthermore, Google unveiled significant developments in the conference, including expanding Vertex AI with over 100 foundation models and introducing enhancements like PaLM 2, supercomputing capabilities, and the fifth-gen Tensor Processing Units. However, their commitment to democratizing AI was highlighted, demonstrated through customer stories and live demos. Google Cloud's developer advocate, Priyanka Vergadia, showcased Duet AI, an intelligent chatbot assistant that streamlines developers' tasks, saving time and enhancing security. Duet AI automates deployments, configures applications correctly, aids in debugging, and strengthens security. Its preview release marks a step towards achieving shift-left and DevSecOps goals, empowering developers to secure their code effectively and allowing security teams to scale their efforts. The research conducted by ESG and ISSA highlights the challenges faced by cybersecurity professionals. A significant majority (63%) have found their roles increasingly complex over the past two years. A closer look reveals that the surge in complexity (81%), rising workloads, and growing cyberthreats (59%), as well as understaffing issues (46%), are the primary factors contributing to this challenge. In response to these evolving demands, Google Cloud has taken a proactive step by extending the application of Duet AI to three key products, now available in preview mode. These applications empower security teams with Mandiant Threat Intelligence for threat analysis, Google Chronicle for accelerated SecOps processes, and Google Security Command Center for risk mitigation. A live demonstration showcased how Duet AI streamlines security analysts' workflows, making threat detection and response more efficient and enhancing overall security posture management. Google Cloud announced Mandiant Hunt for Chronicle Security Ops in preview, boosting threat hunting with expert Mandiant insights. Agentless vulnerability scanning (powered by Tenable) in preview detects OS, software, and network vulnerabilities on Google Compute Engine VMs. Custom posture findings and threat detectors are now available in the Security Command Center. Cloud Firewall Plus, in preview, enhances firewall service with advanced threat protection (Palo Alto Networks). These updates, utilizing Duet AI in preview, demonstrate Google Cloud's dedication to cybersecurity innovation, with specific availability details to come. The conference also highlighted partner offerings in the ever-evolving cloud security landscape.

Read More

API Security

Salt Security, CrowdStrike Expands Partnership with New Integration

Salt Security | September 20, 2023

Salt Security, a prominent API security company, has announced the expansion of its partnership with CrowdStrike, a leading cybersecurity technology company providing cloud workload and endpoint security, cyberattack response, and threat intelligence services. This expansion involves the integration of the Salt Security API Protection Platform with the widely recognized CrowdStrike Falcon Platform. Roey Eliyahu, Co-founder and CEO of Salt Security, stated, Protecting against API threats requires deep visibility and robust runtime protection. We’re excited to bring our unique strengths in API security to the CrowdStrike customer base with this new integration. Together with CrowdStrike, Salt can provide organizations with extended runtime protections and posture management across the cloud and application landscapes. [Source – Cision PR Newswire] Through this integration, customers gain access to a comprehensive 360-degree view of API security risks, particularly focusing on the application-layer attack surface. This integration is accessible via the CrowdStrike Marketplace and provides valuable API threat intelligence. It also enhances cross-organization API security capabilities by streamlining and enhancing the workflows related to API auditing, monitoring, and enforcement. The partnership between Salt Security, offering top-notch API runtime monitoring and AI-driven insights, and CrowdStrike, renowned for its award-winning AI-powered protection, provides organizations with complete visibility into their API attack surface. This integration also offers valuable context regarding the severity of threats in relation to business-critical aspects. With this partnership, customers benefit from: API vulnerability and threat context API threat mitigation API threat management automation The patented Salt API security platform stands out for its utilization of cloud-scale big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML). These technologies work in tandem to automate the process of discovering and cataloging an organization's entire set of APIs. Salt plays a crucial role in pinpointing areas where APIs might expose sensitive data. This proactive approach aids enterprises in recognizing and mitigating potential API threats while also reinforcing their overall API security. Gur Talpaz, Head of Falcon Fund and Vice President of Corporate Development at CrowdStrike, said, With APIs now a prime target for malicious actors, securing them requires a comprehensive and diligent approach. Through this joint integration, we can harness the mature AI-driven intelligence of the Salt API security platform with our widely deployed Falcon platform, giving organizations complete visibility into their application-layer attack surface and a detailed understanding of their application threat landscape. [Source – Cision PR Newswire] About Salt Security Salt Security is a leading API security company that safeguards the APIs at the core of all modern applications. Its API Protection Platform is the sole API security solution that integrates the power of cloud-scale big data with time-tested machine learning and artificial intelligence to detect and prevent API attacks. Salt provides extensive context, real-time analysis, and continuous insights for API discovery, hardening APIs, and attack prevention by correlating the activities of millions of APIs and users over time.

Read More

Software Security

Lacework and Snowflake Expand Their Alliance to Secure Cloud Business

Lacework | September 15, 2023

Lacework, a company specializing in data-driven cloud security, and Snowflake, a prominent Data Cloud company, have jointly announced an expanded partnership. This partnership aims to propel the evolution of cloud infrastructure while enhancing cloud security automation at scale. Through this extended collaboration, security teams gain direct access to their Lacework cloud security data using Snowflake's secure data sharing, thus enabling unified visibility and tailored automation. Ulfar Erlingsson, Chief Architect, Lacework, said, Snowflake has been a dedicated platform partner as Lacework has scaled our business to support over 900 customers — ranging from small, early-stage startups to some of the most sophisticated enterprises running in the cloud space today — whose operations result in tremendous volume, variety, and velocity of security-relevant data. [Source – Cision PR Newswire] Erlingsson mentioned that, over the past seven years, Lacework had successfully conducted timely and efficient data processing by utilizing the Snowflake Data Cloud, even among a highly skewed set of customers. He further explained that their extended partnership with Snowflake would enhance their ability to serve joint customers at a cloud scale. This would apply whether customers needed them to handle only a small amount of security data or data processing at rates as high as 10s of gigabytes per second. As generative AI advances and becomes more accessible across various industries, the frequency and severity of cybersecurity threats are on the rise. This trend is driven by businesses accelerating their development processes and increasing cloud data generation. Addressing this new era of cloud security necessitates a fundamentally fresh approach, and Lacework's platform is designed to efficiently manage the substantial volume of data within an organization's cloud ecosystem. This includes data related to code, identities, containers, and multi-cloud infrastructure, with Snowflake serving as a critical platform partner. Through the combined capabilities of Lacework's security platform and Snowflake's Data Cloud, customers gain the ability to extend the value of cloud security data throughout their organization. This enables organizations to thoroughly assess their security and compliance status. Head of Cybersecurity Strategy at Snowflake, Omer Singer, said, Among the many potential advantages of generative AI is the ability for enterprises to deploy new applications faster, which places even more emphasis on the need to have scalable infrastructure and solutions. The combination of Snowflake and Lacework will continue to assist organizations scale their cloud businesses securely in the new era. [Source – Cision PR Newswire] About Lacework Lacework protects organizations in the cloud, enabling them to innovate with greater speed and assurance. Lacework's platform is designed to scale with the variety, volume, and velocity of cloud data across an organization's cloud environment, including code, containers, identities, and multi-cloud infrastructure. Only Lacework provides Security and Development teams with a connected and prioritized end-to-end view that identifies the most significant hazards and security events. About Snowflake The Snowflake enables all organizations to mobilize their data with its Data Cloud. Customers utilize the Data Cloud to integrate disparate data sources, power data applications, discover and securely share data, and implement a variety of AI/ML and analytic workloads. Snowflake provides a singular data experience that transcends multiple clouds and geographies, regardless of where data or users reside. Snowflake Data Cloud is used by thousands of customers across numerous industries, including 639 of the 2023 Forbes Global 2000 as of July 31, 2023.

Read More

Cloud Security

Google Cloud Next 2023 Embraces Generative AI for Safer Digital Future

Google | September 18, 2023

Google reveals its pioneering approach to applying generative AI in cybersecurity at the Google Cloud Next conference in San Francisco. Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai's keynote emphasizes Google's AI-first approach and the transformative impact of AI across industries. Google introduces innovative security updates and trends, highlighting its commitment to enhancing cybersecurity capabilities. Google Cloud extends Duet AI to three key products in preview mode, empowering security teams to address complex cybersecurity challenges more efficiently. Google unveiled its pioneering approach to applying generative AI in cybersecurity at the Google Cloud Next conference in San Francisco. This significant revelation follows the broader accessibility of generative AI, made possible earlier this year by technologies like ChatGPT. Google's strategic endeavor aims to harness the potential of AI to combat cybersecurity challenges. Additionally, the event featured a keynote address by Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who underscored the transformative influence of AI across sectors and emphasized Google's extensive history of adopting an AI-first approach. During the conference, Google seized the opportunity to introduce innovative security updates and trends, signifying its commitment to enhancing cybersecurity capabilities for its customers. These developments come at a time when the integration of AI technologies in addressing cybersecurity concerns has gained substantial attention and recognition. Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, a prominent figure in the technology industry, initiated the conference, reiterating the profound influence of AI across various sectors, industries, and business functions. His emphasis on Google's decade-long dedication to an AI-first approach solidified the company's leadership position in this transformative era. Furthermore, Google unveiled significant developments in the conference, including expanding Vertex AI with over 100 foundation models and introducing enhancements like PaLM 2, supercomputing capabilities, and the fifth-gen Tensor Processing Units. However, their commitment to democratizing AI was highlighted, demonstrated through customer stories and live demos. Google Cloud's developer advocate, Priyanka Vergadia, showcased Duet AI, an intelligent chatbot assistant that streamlines developers' tasks, saving time and enhancing security. Duet AI automates deployments, configures applications correctly, aids in debugging, and strengthens security. Its preview release marks a step towards achieving shift-left and DevSecOps goals, empowering developers to secure their code effectively and allowing security teams to scale their efforts. The research conducted by ESG and ISSA highlights the challenges faced by cybersecurity professionals. A significant majority (63%) have found their roles increasingly complex over the past two years. A closer look reveals that the surge in complexity (81%), rising workloads, and growing cyberthreats (59%), as well as understaffing issues (46%), are the primary factors contributing to this challenge. In response to these evolving demands, Google Cloud has taken a proactive step by extending the application of Duet AI to three key products, now available in preview mode. These applications empower security teams with Mandiant Threat Intelligence for threat analysis, Google Chronicle for accelerated SecOps processes, and Google Security Command Center for risk mitigation. A live demonstration showcased how Duet AI streamlines security analysts' workflows, making threat detection and response more efficient and enhancing overall security posture management. Google Cloud announced Mandiant Hunt for Chronicle Security Ops in preview, boosting threat hunting with expert Mandiant insights. Agentless vulnerability scanning (powered by Tenable) in preview detects OS, software, and network vulnerabilities on Google Compute Engine VMs. Custom posture findings and threat detectors are now available in the Security Command Center. Cloud Firewall Plus, in preview, enhances firewall service with advanced threat protection (Palo Alto Networks). These updates, utilizing Duet AI in preview, demonstrate Google Cloud's dedication to cybersecurity innovation, with specific availability details to come. The conference also highlighted partner offerings in the ever-evolving cloud security landscape.

Read More

Spotlight

TeleSign

TeleSign

TeleSign provides continuous trust to leading global enterprises by connecting, protecting, and defending their digital identities. TeleSign verifies over five billion unique phone numbers a month, representing half of the world’s mobile users, and provides critical insight into the remaining billio...

Events

Resources

resource image

Network Threat Detection, Platform Security, Software Security

The Elite 10: Unveiling Top Network Security Solutions in 2023

Article

resource image

Enterprise Security, Network Threat Detection, Software Security

From Fundamentals to Mastery: Top 10 Advanced Network Security Books

Article

resource image

Network Threat Detection, Platform Security, Software Security

The Elite 10: Unveiling Top Network Security Solutions in 2023

Article

resource image

Enterprise Security, Network Threat Detection, Software Security

From Fundamentals to Mastery: Top 10 Advanced Network Security Books

Article

Events