AI, NLP, Blockchain: Yes, We’re on The Buzzword Bandwagon but Here's Why

- Simon Bain, BOHH Labs CEO

Like every year, there are certain technologies that get more attention than others. Right now, some of the biggest ones making a good run include Artificial Intelligence (AI), Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Blockchain. Based on the number of companies or new products that have come out of the woodwork using these technologies, it’s clear people love to use buzzwords and tout they are using the hottest, most innovative technology on the market to gain competitive edge and create the illusion of being a forward-thinker. However, many companies jump on the buzzword bandwagon simply because it is something popular everyone is doing, and so they do it too. While this may just sound like a lame popularity contest giving you nightmares of your high school days, when this strategy is applied to something critical like data security, there can be serious ramifications for companies laying all their eggs in one basket and settling for solutions that are hot at the moment.

Before I go on about how bad it is to jump on buzzword bandwagons, I first must address that at BOHH Labs we do apply the AI, NLP and Blockchain technology buzzwords taking the industry by storm. However, what makes our approach unique is that we do not rely on just one of these, but instead use them in an interconnected way that helps us ensure we can secure all user, applications and data access. So yes, we do fall in to the bucket of one of those companies using buzzwords, but we leverage the benefits that make each one of them unique in to a full-encompassing security solution. Below is a breakdown why and how we apply each of these technologies:

• Artificial Intelligence (AI):  AI uses a compound set of algorithms to detect patterns and predict outcomes from a large amount of data online, as such, the self-learning capabilities and ability to recognize patterns and anomalies within them, makes AI a great tool to detect cybersecurity threats within the network in real time. We use an AI engine to do threat analysis and to prevent intrusions. Our AI manages ports, interacts with and processes user requests, and maintains a secure connection by learning, identifying and removing any unwanted traffic before it is passed along and gets access to any of the backend applications or databases. 
• Natural Language Processing: NLP is a great tool to connect the gap between human and machines as technology continues to advance and will have many advantages to streamlining processes. Our NLP is critical to ensuring the BOHH solution works properly. It works like most human brains work. When a request comes in, it determines if it is a command or question, then it does entity recognition, looks and finds the answer from the correct database(s), performs any additional processing math, and then formats the response and passes it back. 
• In-Memory Distributed Blockchain Ledger: The underlying technology of blockchain offers great potential to bring more granularity to areas where you have an open network of millions of transactions. It offers the potential of an unchangeable, universally visible ledger that creates its own audit trail, decreasing the possibility of backdoor transactions. We use an encrypted In-Memory Distributed Blockchain Ledger. Unlike other standard databases, the ledger fields do not hold complete data. This means that the database service requires less memory and processing power, less management of resources for the database itself and controls field level access of data down to an individual or device level. The power of this is that you can have multiple devices accessing a single database and table, yet each can only access a single field managed by that database regardless of the SQL query that has been sent. 

There you have it. To sum up, I believe it is my role as a technologist to help companies understand why it is important to invest in security technologies that will make an impact on their solution, and not just apply something new that is hot now.

BOHH Breakdown Part 19: AI is Booming in Cybersecurity – Let’s Looks at How and Why

In our last post, we talked about the good and bad to come out of the Intel microprocessor security flaws. Today, we are taking a closer look at AI and how it can enhance the cybersecurity industry.

Since its inception more than 50 years ago, much of the conversation associated Artificial Intelligence (AI) was centered on the future of robots and science fiction; however, in recent years AI has been dominating the conversation in the volatile cybersecurity market. AI is becoming so popular as tool to combat cybersecurity in the last couple of years, that it is quickly becoming a standard tool to have in your overall security strategy. But what makes it so great for fighting cybercrime?

Staying ahead of hackers has become increasingly challenging, and the sheer number of beach attempts on a given company daily is unmanageable by humans alone. This is where AI can be helpful by looking for and detecting any network traffic abnormalities. AI uses a compound set of algorithms to detect patterns and predict outcomes from a large amount of data online. As such, the self-learning capabilities and ability to recognize patterns and anomalies within them, makes AI a great tool to detect cybersecurity threats within the network in real time.

This means AI will be influential in helping security teams prioritize important and relevant information among the high volume of data now available to reduce noise and solve attacks more rapidly. It will enable security teams to automate the irregular activity detection process and help reduce/flag breach attempts to a few thousand worthy of human review. 
Another area AI offers great potential is in the cybersecurity workforce. In 2017 there were a lot of conversations surrounding a global shortage of cybersecurity professionals with the specialized skills to address the evolving security challenges faces companies daily. So far, not much progress has been made. AI could be a good method to help address the growing cybersecurity skills gap as some of the areas it can help with include helping automate some of the security tasks like network scanning, as well as help train employees on cybersecurity awareness.

Additionally, security companies are not the only ones noticing the benefits of AI – many hackers are too. It is predicted that 2018 will bring a rise in AI-based attacks from cyberhackers to mimic human behaviors. In order to keep up with these complex and coordinated attacks, there will be an even greater need for companies to invest in their AI cybersecurity tools to meet these new threats head on, making it an important spend in they cybersecurity strategy.

Like many companies, BOHH believes AI capabilities are a great tool to integrate in a cybersecurity strategy and our AI Engine is a core component to our security approach. We use an AI Engine to do threat analysis and to prevent intrusion – it manages ports, interacts with user requests, and maintains a secure connection by identifying and removing any unwanted traffic before it is passed along and gets access to any of the backend applications or databases. 

AI offers great promise in the cybersecurity realm, and it will be exciting to see how the technology continues to develop and impact the industry.

Come back next Tuesday for our breakdown on how to support digital innovations without sacrificing security. 

The BOHH Breakdown, Part 12: Giving Thanks to Our Favorite Security Techniques

In our last post, we talked about some of the most famous corporate data breaches and how BOHH could have prevented them. This week, in honor of Thanksgiving, we are looking at some of the best security techniques being used to keep our data protected and giving thanks.

Encryption

This is hardly a new strategy for keeping our data protected, but it is has become a standard protocol in today’s security measures. The core foundation of encryption focuses on converting information or data into a form unreadable by anyone except the intended recipient. While encryption itself does not prevent hackers from getting access to data, it does make it unreadable to those who intercept it. At BOHH, we believe the parties at the two ends of a data message – the sender and requester – should be the only ones who have access to that data message. We use a keyless encryption algorithm from end-to-end to ensure all data – both at rest and in transit – stays protected, without any possibility of decrypting it, even at the sever level.
Artificial Intelligence

Though popular culture used to associate Artificial Intelligence (AI) with robots and science fiction, it is on the rise as a technology influencing a variety of sectors, including the cybersecurity industry. Staying ahead of hackers has become increasingly challenging. As such, the self-learning capabilities and ability to recognize patterns and anomalies within them, makes AI a great tool to detect threats. At BOHH, our AI Engine is a core component to our security approach. We use an AI Engine to do threat analysis and to prevent intrusion – it manages ports, interacts with user requests, and maintains a secure connection by identifying and removing any unwanted traffic before it is passed along and gets access to any of the backend applications or databases. 

Firewalls

Firewalls have been around for a while and are often overlooked as a part of a security strategy, but they are a useful tool to help thwart attacks from external bad actors. Much like its name describes, firewalls are used to keep networks protected and act as a first line of defense of all data traffic that passes in and out of the network. Based on pre-set rules and security requirements set by a company, firewalls examine incoming traffic against those pre-set rules and blocks unauthorized attempts trying to get in. Firewalls continue to be one of the most popular tools in the IT industry and continue to evolve over time as more sophisticated security challenges and attacks develop. At BOHH, we work in conjunction with a firewall system. The BOHH security platform sits on top of the firewall and enables full encryption inside the firewall for added security to keep data protected.

Multi-Factor Authentication 

As technology advances and hackers’ attacks evolve and become more sophisticated to take advantage of these advancements, using only a single authentication system, like a password is no longer enough. This is where multi-factor authentication comes in. The goal is to add multiple layers of security to make it more difficult for unauthorized users to take over an account. Multi-Factor Authentication is a great technique because if one factor is compromised, an attacker still has one or two other barriers to get through before successfully breaking into the target. There are many different methods to do Multi-Factor Authentication such as password followed by text, email, pin number confirmation, or even biometric authentication (voice, fingerprint, etc.) which is gaining popularity as technology advances. At BOHH, we employ multi-factor authentication via voice authentication, fingerprint or sending code confirmation messages to your mobile phone or email for verification.

Each of these technologies have a critical place in companies’ security strategy; however, each of these are just on piece of the whole puzzle and should not be the only tool used to combat security threats. For security to keep pace with the evolving and complex attacks in today’s complex environment, there must be a more holistic approach when securing data by combining the various security solutions available. 

Now that we’ve highlighted some of the security techniques we are thankful for, come back next Tuesday when we will share some of our predictions for what lie ahead in 2018.