Harnessing Automation for Cybersecurity in 7 Steps
Tags: ai, beginners, cybersecurity
Published: 2023-10-12 13:10:00


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Automation is a friend and a workhorse for cybersecurity, specifically with the process of identifying and responding to already known security vulnerability/threats/exploit .
Below is a breakdown of the steps to achieve it:

1. **Determine Your Detection Objectives**:
   - Identify the specific security threats and/or malicious activities we aim to identify, encompassing malware, unauthorized access attempts, and insider threats.
Think about not letting anyone with out proper badge entering your office.

2. **Choose and Deploy Specialized Threat Detection Tools**:
   - Select and install security software and solutions that align with your organization's need. This encompasses systems such as [SIEM (Security Information and Event Management)](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/security-101/what-is-siem), IDS/IPS (Intrusion Detection System/Intrusion Prevention System), and advanced threat detection platforms.

3. **Collect and Merge Data**:
   - Gather data from diverse sources, including system logs, network traffic, and endpoint information. Then, seamlessly integrate this data into your threat detection tools.
Think about tools like [LogRhythm](https://logrhythm.com/), [Splunk](https://www.splunk.com/).

4. **Formulate Detection Rules and Signatures**:
   - Craft unique detection rules, signatures, and use cases derived from known attack patterns and indicators of compromise (IoC).
Check out sources like - [MITRE ATT&CK](https://attack.mitre.org/), [Snort](https://www.snort.org/).

5. **Leverage Machine Learning and AI**:
   - Apply machine learning and artificial intelligence to pinpoint anomalies and novel threats. These technologies excel at identifying deviations from typical system behavior.
Check out sources like - [Darktrace](https://darktrace.com/), [CyberAI](https://cset.georgetown.edu/research-topic/cyberai/).

6. **Automate Alerting and Notifications**:
   - Configure automated alerting and notification mechanisms to promptly inform security team and/or incident response personnel when unusual activity is detected. 
Note: Have an [Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery](https://blog.isc2.org/isc2_blog/2021/06/business-continuity.html) and Incident Response Plan Ready

7. **Automate Incident Analysis and Prioritization**:
   - Streamline the initial analysis and prioritization of identified threats. Classify incidents based on their severity and potential impact.

8. **Implement Response Automation**:
   - Embed automated response measures for common threats. For instance, one can automate the isolation of compromised systems or the blocking of malicious IP addresses or use [network segementaion](https://www.threatintelligence.com/blog/network-segmentation). 
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9. **Sustain Ongoing Monitoring and Enhancement**:
    - Continously monitor the "automated threat detection system" and ensure it remains current by adding new detection rules, AI models, and response protocols as required. Regularly scrutinize and address false positives and false negatives to refine accuracy.

By following above steps, organizations may enhance their cybersecurity defenses, but important part is to keep the software and infrastructure updated to the latest patch and keep updating the defection rules/