Copilot for Security, Microsoft’s Gen AI to fight cyber threats

The announcement of the global availability of Microsoft Copilot for Security, starting from April 1, 2024, may seem like one of many that have crowded the artificial intelligence stage in recent weeks. And instead it should be considered particularly important not only because it is one of the first Gen AI solutions designed specifically to help IT security professionals detect threats more accurately and quickly, but also because it confirms the integration path that the Redmond giant is moving forward to bring its technology (the result of investments in OpenAI) to various areas of use.

How does it work

Copilot for Security, as stated in the note released by the American company, uses intelligent threat detection systems and a large-scale database (including the 78 trillion security alerts processed by Microsoft every day) and is combined with linguistic models of new generation with extensive possibilities for personalized insights. Like the Copilot integrated into Office applications, the “for security” version allows you to ask textual questions to better monitor the protection status of a network and obtain targeted suggestions on how to optimize defenses; for this purpose, the interface is localized in 25 languages ​​and is able to understand and respond to “prompts” placed in eight different languages. To help security managers manage generative AI and ensure the protection of sensitive data, Microsoft has integrated a series of options into the solution that allow, for example, to protect artificial intelligence applications in use and sensitive information that is processed or generated by them and to monitor all interactions with the same applications to detect any violations of regulations or organizational policies. Finally, among the new features of Copilot for Security there is also integration with Knowledgebase, in order to bring customized Gen AI capabilities into business logic and processes, with Microsoft Entra, to help prevent compromised digital identities through deep investigation into audit log issues related to a specific user or event, and with Intune , with the aim of improving endpoint management and enabling resolution of problems before they occur.

The benefits for company security

The value of this solution obviously needs to be verified in the field but according to the experiments conducted so far, the results obtainable thanks to Gen AI are decidedly interesting. A study conducted on the use of Copilot for Security in the company revealed numerous benefits in terms of time savings and accuracy of analyses. Specifically, an increase of 22% was found in the speed of the experts’ work and of 7% in terms of precision in combating and managing attacks, for an overall level of satisfaction in the use of artificial intelligence. by Copilot which convinced 97% of interested users.