Smarter Than Static Security

A New Era in Cybersecurity

“The notion of the perimeter as we know it has evolved over the years,” Selim Aissi, Global CISO at Blackhawk Network, notes. “There are also other trends that add complexity to this. One is the massive use of APIs, especially public APIs, but also private APIs versus direct connect for VPN. A lot of information is shared over APIs these days.” 

This shift, coupled with the rise of remote work, has transformed the cybersecurity landscape. “If there's a good percentage of employees operating out of hostile environments, that's a completely new dynamic that we've been dealing with now for three years,” Aissi noted. “I think those are very important trends.”

At Blackhawk Network, a leader in branded payments and digital commerce, Aissi is at the forefront of addressing these challenges. His vision involves leveraging artificial intelligence to adapt to the evolving threat landscape and to enhance data protection strategies.

Legacy Limitations

Traditional cybersecurity approaches often rely on static defenses and manual processes, which are increasingly inadequate against sophisticated threats. Aissi highlighted the growing complexity of cyber attacks: “What really triggered my interest over the past few months is looking at some of the attacks that are based on extortion, specifically ransomware. The evasion techniques and the security tools that they have embedded, especially in the first and second payloads of the attack, are definitely some of the best that I've seen in my career.”

He further elaborated on the challenges posed by these advanced threats: “A lot of the frauds are using different types of defectors for the controls that they have in place for rate limiting and detection of automated attacks, such as attacks generated by bots.” These tactics render traditional security tools less effective, necessitating a more dynamic and intelligent approach to cybersecurity.

AI-Driven Transformation

Recognizing the limitations of conventional methods, Aissi envisions a future where AI plays a central role in cybersecurity. He described an ideal data protection tool: “I was thinking the other day about the optimum data protection tool that would learn where all of the data stores are, discover everything, all the types of data, do the data tagging, do the data lineage, data tracking, and come up with the best protection methodology. Whether it's decontexting, tokenization, encryption, or whatever method makes sense for that data store because you can't come in with a big hammer and encrypt all of the data. AI can play a huge role in something like that.”

This vision extends beyond data protection. Aissi anticipates a consolidation of security tools powered by AI: “What I see in the future is somebody like myself, a CISO of a large FinTech company or a large healthcare company, doesn't have to deploy 40-50 security tools. The CISO would only have to deploy two or three capabilities that can perform the functions of all of these highly fragmented tools that we have to deploy today.”

He emphasized the potential of self-learning systems: “These tools are self-learning. I don't need to deploy six or seven different tools to deal with data protection. It's one tool that is intelligent enough that it can do the learning, the data lineage, and also the protection.”

Impact and Outcomes

The integration of AI into cybersecurity strategies promises significant improvements in threat detection and response. Aissi noted the advancements in AI-driven security tools: “I see a lot of innovation that is based on AI. Over the past three or four years, I have seen security tools coming to the world with AI-based capabilities and self-learning. Some of those are in the EDR, some in email security, some in anti-bot/fraud detection.”

He also highlighted the benefits of AI in security analytics: “Especially in security analytics, I've seen some innovation that is based on AI engines and intrusion detection. I think every area of security can use some AI because they all deal with some kind of threat.” These AI-enhanced tools offer the ability to learn from vast datasets, adapt to new threats, and provide more effective protection, marking a significant shift from traditional, static security measures.

Looking Ahead

Aissi remains optimistic about the role of AI in the future of cybersecurity: “I think AI can help unify and add a lot of intelligence and learning. There's so much to learn from, whether it's my environment or other companies. This is very fertile ground for these types of techniques to come in and help.”

He envisions a future where AI not only enhances security but also simplifies it: “I'm really highly optimistic that this is definitely going to help us tremendously.” By embracing AI, organizations like Blackhawk Network are poised to stay ahead of evolving threats, streamline their security operations, and protect their digital assets more effectively.