Computer Science has no limit. This strong conviction has always been the reason for my attraction to it. But why is there no limit? Because like any other science by definition, it has no ending. Computer Science also brings into reality results of applied researches, themselves supported by fundamental researches.
The IT tools that we are using on a daily basis are the results of human creation. But the IT has this particularity that it can outperform its creator in its own ability to intelligently reason…
In the past, this statement has led to great fantasies and has been the main source of inspiration for many Sci-Fi novels. But in reality, there is now no doubt that, used in a proper way, it could be very powerful and, even better, turns to be essential in some areas. That is the case for cyber security.
For the past 10 years and in the next coming ones, the number of connected objects will considerably rise. But, the security challenge does not so much lie on the number of devices rather than the width and the interconnectivity brought by every single device, each one representing a threat vector.
This leads to a simple conclusion: it is no longer possible to define a security solution on the only users’ environment pre-knowledge basis. Similarly, it is no longer possible to make conclusions post-attacks, because even prior to its analysis completion, new form of attacks will be appearing, continuously replacing the old ones.
Thus, it is required for security solutions to automatically “learn” and “adapt” to their environment. Cognitive, distributed algorithms, machine learning, neural networks, … as many tools provided by the Information Technology to bring knowledge and understanding.
To illustrate this point, let’s consider for instance the architecture of a central brain fed by agents installed on multiple equipment that will massively collect environmental security data in order to take actions. Solution providers have to integrate reasoning abilities and logical deductions within their system for it to act autonomously and trigger protective actions on equipment. Thus, the most advanced mobile defense solution will be the one offering the highest degree of Artificial Intelligence.
Finally, I will end by a confidence that is reflecting people mindsets evolution: when we first released our solution, the Marketing team did not even dare to say that it was leaning upon artificial intelligence, fearing to be seen as a solution coming straight out of the “Star Wars” saga. Today, we can assume it and we are proud to have been a precursor in this field and of course we’ll continue improving the abilities of the “brain” we’ve created.
