Microsoft launches an artificial intelligence chatbot for cybersecurity experts

Microsoft unveiled a chatbot on Tuesday with the intention of assisting cybersecurity professionals in comprehending critical issues and locating solutions to them.

After OpenAI’s ChatGPT bot wowed the public upon its debut in November, the company has been hard at work adding artificial intelligence models to its software.

When Microsoft promoted new Word and productivity app features earlier this month, the generative AI software that results can at times be “usefully wrong.” However, Microsoft continues to move forward in its efforts to maintain and expand its cybersecurity business, which is expected to generate more than $20 billion in revenue in 2022.

GPT-4, the most recent large language model from OpenAI in which Microsoft has invested billions of dollars, and a security-specific model that Microsoft built using daily activity data are utilized in the Microsoft Security Copilot. The framework likewise knows a given client’s security climate, yet that information will not be utilized to train models.

The chatbot can create PowerPoint slides summing up security occurrences, depict openness to a functioning weakness or determine the records engaged with an endeavor because of a text brief that a person types in.

A user can select an “off-target” button to indicate a mistake or hit a button to confirm an answer is correct. In an interview, Vasu Jakkal, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of security, compliance, identity, management, and privacy, stated that this kind of input will assist the service in learning.

The Security Copilot has been utilized by Microsoft engineers for their work. Jakkal stated, “It can process 1,000 alerts and give you the two incidents that matter in seconds.” She also said that the tool reverse-engineered malicious code for an analyst who didn’t know how to do that.

Companies that have trouble hiring experts and end up hiring employees who lack experience in certain areas may benefit from this kind of assistance. Jakkal stated, “There is a learning curve, and it takes time. And now Security Copilot with the skills built in can augment you. So it is going to help you do more with less.”

When Security Copilot becomes more widely available, Microsoft does not discuss pricing.

According to Jakkal, the goal is for a large number of employees rather than just a few executives to use it. That implies after some time Microsoft needs to make the device fit for having conversations in a more extensive assortment of spaces.

To track threats, the service will be compatible with Microsoft security products like Sentinel. According to Jakkal, Microsoft will decide in the coming months whether to include support for third-party tools like Splunk based on feedback from early users.

Frank Dickson, group vice president for security and trust at technology industry researcher IDC, stated, “If Microsoft were to require customers to use Sentinel or other Microsoft products if they want to turn on the Security Copilot, that could very well influence the purchasing decisions.”

“For me, I was like, ‘Wow, this may be the single biggest announcement in security this calendar year,’” he said.

Palo Alto Networks, one of Microsoft’s security rivals, is free to release their own chatbots; however, Dickson stated that if Microsoft launches first, it will have an advantage.

A private preview of Security Copilot will be made available to a select group of Microsoft clients at a later time.