Digital processes are disrupting and transforming organizations everywhere. Big Data, Machine Learning, AI, and their applications companion, Machine Intelligence, are the soul of this digital revolution. These applications are probably no more essential anywhere else than in cybersecurity operations.

The quantity and complexity of digital network information has skyrocketed in recent years due to the explosion of internet-connected devices, the rise of operational technologies (OT), and the growth of an interconnected global economy (including IOT: the Internet of Things). With exponentially multiplying mountains of human- and machine-generated network data, the ability to extract meaningful signals about potentially nefarious activities, and ultimately deter those activities, has become increasingly complex.

In other domains, such as marketing and e-commerce, businesses have been able to effectively apply data mining to create customer “journeys” in order to predict and recommend content or products to the end-user. However, within cybersecurity operations, the ability to map the journey of an analyst or an adversary is inherently complex due to the dynamic nature of computer networks, the sophistication of adversaries, and the pervasiveness of technical and human factors that expose network vulnerabilities. Despite these challenges, there is hope for making meaningful progress. E-commerce marketing and cyber operations share one significant factor—the primary actor is a human being, whose interests, intents, motivations, and goals often manifest through their actions, behaviors, and other digital breadcrumbs.

For modern cybersecurity operations to be effective, it is necessary for organizations to monitor digital breadcrumbs from diverse data streams to identify strong activity signals. But, it doesn’t stop at monitoring sensors for signals. Our cybersecurity applications must proceed proactively from sensors (data collectors) to signals (big data) to sentinels (pattern detection and recognition, including the identification of early warnings and creation of alerts, through the algorithms of AI and machine learning) to sense-making (insights and action, through machine intelligence).

You can learn more about extracting meaningful signals from mountains of data and instrumenting advanced analytics for improved cyber defenses in the new report from Booz Allen Hamilton. Download and read your copy of the free report “Modernizing Cyber Security Operations with Machine Intelligence” here: https://www.oreilly.com/ideas/modernizing-cybersecurity-approaches

For additional insights into Booz Allen Hamilton’s Machine Intelligence capabilities, and how they can help your organization, download your copy of the “Machine Intelligence Primer” here: http://www.boozallen.com/machineintelligence