Dubai, January 26, 2024 – The cybersecurity world isn’t debating if artificial intelligence should be used for defense, but rather how rapidly organizations can actually implement it, according to discussions at Intersec Dubai, a leading security and safety event. The shift signals a growing urgency as attackers leverage AI to accelerate and scale their operations.
The Speed of Attack: A New Reality for Security Teams
Cyber defenders are facing a critical imbalance: attackers are gaining speed with AI, while security operations centers (SOCs) struggle to keep pace.
Jean Wiles, head of cyber security for the Middle East and africa at Cigna Healthcare, explained that today’s SOCs are battling not just increasingly sophisticated threats, but also a dramatic increase in their speed and scale. “If you think about a SOC analyst today,AI allows an attacker to look at thousands of minutes of activity and rewrite malicious code in a minute,” Wiles said. “The cost of being slow is huge,” she added, emphasizing the potential for financial penalties, and reputational damage.
“The cost of being slow is huge,” Wiles emphasized. “But the cost of being wrong is also massive,especially in regulated environments like healthcare.”
What’s the key to faster cybersecurity responses? Organizations need to integrate technology that enables quicker decision-making, treating AI as a reliable assistant.
We need to bring technology in that allows decision-making to happen quickly. AI should be a trusted lieutenant. As a commander, you need to trust it. If you do, you will make faster decisions Jean Wiles, Cigna Healthcare
Wiles cautioned against relying solely on human judgment in this evolving landscape. “The volume of attacks has expanded across the industry,” she said. “We rely heavily on service providers to maintain visibility, and when you see phishing campaigns still being successful at scale, it’s scary. You have to adapt and be stronger to win the battle.”
Discussions at Intersec centered on how AI-driven automation can bridge this gap, but Wiles stressed that automation isn’t a silver bullet.Organizations must rethink how AI is woven into their decision-making processes, extending beyond simple threat detection. “We need to bring technology in that allows decision-making to happen quickly,” she reiterated.”AI should be a trusted lieutenant. As a commander, you need to trust it. If you do, you will make faster decisions.”
Building that trust, according to wiles, requires a robust architectural foundation. AI systems should be designed with clear activation triggers, strong identity isolation, and defined human oversight. The goal isn’t to replace analysts, but to empower them with rapid triage and response capabilities, allowing them to focus on validation and strategic planning. This balance is particularly crucial in threat detection.
“You need to build systems that can act quickly, but you also need to partner,” Wiles said, highlighting the increasing reliance on managed security service providers (MSSPs) and AI-powered platforms to achieve the necessary scale and visibility.
The healthcare industry faces unique challenges. Any disruption to operations can directly impact patient care, making downtime unacceptable. However, strict regulatory requirements demand careful governance of automated responses.”That’s the challenge for us,” Wiles explained. “Attackers are sophisticated and targeted, but we also don’t want to be wrong.We need systems that move fast without compromising compliance.”
Looking forward, Wiles anticipates a future where AI is integral to cybersecurity. As attack volumes and variations continue to rise, manual analysis will become increasingly ineffective. “Everyone is overdoing it when volume goes up,” she said. “We need to architect for the future, find the right service providers, and use AI to fight AI.”
