Exploring Gen AI: Innovation or Overhyped Trend?

22 May Gen AI: Hype or help?

Is GenAI the Breakthrough Endpoint Security Needed or Just Another Buzzword? asks Apu Pavithran, CEO and Founder, Hexnode.

Generative AI (GenAI) is not just another tech fad. It’s everywhere: writing code, generating art, composing music, and even pulling off an unpaid therapist act, telling us exactly what we want to hear. While it is reshaping creativity and innovation, it’s also giving cybersecurity a powerful new edge.

The kicker is that GenAI does not play favourites. The same technology that fortifies defences also arms attackers. They’re weaponising it to amplify their attacks and camouflaging phishing emails with genuine conversations that are almost impossible to tell apart.

So, the real question is not whether GenAI is changing cybersecurity. But who is wielding it better?

The GenAI effect in the Middle East

The Middle East isn’t just dipping its toes into GenAI; it’s diving in headfirst. In the last year itself, 88% of CEOs in the region have integrated GenAI into their businesses, outpacing global adoption rates, according to PwC’s 28th Annual CEO Survey: Middle East findings. This isn’t just a side project; 57% of organisations allocate at least 5% of their digital budgets to GenAI initiatives (McKinsey’s The state of gen AI in the Middle East’s GCC countries: A 2024 report card).

While every sector in the region stands to benefit, the energy industry is leading the way, according to the McKinsey research, with potential annual gains of $5 billion to $8 billion. From automating routine back-office tasks to optimising grid management, GenAI is changing how the industry operates. By crunching historical data and real-time sensor inputs, it predicts demand more accurately, allowing grid operators to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Finance, healthcare and government agencies are also tapping into GenAI for fraud detection, clinical decision-making, and process optimisation.

That’s why the cybersecurity industry needs to catch up. GenAI is already transforming industries across the region, streamlining operations and driving efficiency. If it can do that for business, it can do the same for security.

Can GenAI actually level up security?

The urgency is not just about adopting GenAI; it is about weaving it into the core of security operations (SecOps). The smartest way is to deploy GenAI as a complementary tool within cybersecurity tools and workflows.

A major issue security teams face today is ‘alert fatigue’. Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems pull in a constant stream of alerts, but with so many false positives, it’s easy to miss the serious threats hiding beneath the noise. The ransomware attack on a Saudi construction firm is a case in point. The attack carried out by the ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) group DragonForce led to the exfiltration of 6TB of blueprints, airbase plans and sensitive project files. By the time the company realised what had happened, the damage was already done. When the company refused to pay, the stolen files were dumped on the dark web, causing severe financial and reputational fallout.

This is where GenAI can make a difference. Unlike traditional Artificial Intelligence (AI), which might just flag everything as suspicious, GenAI’s ability to add context sifts through the noise, prioritising critical threats and offering actionable mitigation strategies.

As credential theft and insider threats rise, behaviour tracking becomes a non-negotiable defence. GenAI is expected to build on existing AI and machine learning capabilities, creating smarter models that can detect even subtle deviations, predict attacks and adapt to evolving threats in real time.

Compliance is another daunting task that has been made easier with GenAI. Through continuous monitoring and automated audits, organisations can ensure all devices comply with regulatory standards, eliminating the need for time-consuming manual reviews.

However, as Gartner puts it, GenAI thrives when it’s part of a broader AI strategy. To fully harness GenAI’s power in security, it needs full access to the digital battlefield, including central management, SIEM systems, threat intelligence feeds and security orchestration tools. Think of it like a master strategist pulling intel from all these sources to map out the best defence. However, even the smartest AI is only as good as its data. Therefore, it must be constantly fed with new threat intelligence and relevant data.

Gen-AI meets UEM

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and in enterprise security, that link has long been the human element. Even minor slip-ups can cause massive security gaps, compliance nightmares and network-wide failures. That’s exactly why management tools exist. Yet, the problem today is not just human error but the sheer scale of what needs to be managed.

Today’s enterprise ecosystem isn’t just laptops and desktops anymore. It’s a cornucopia of devices, from mobile phones to kiosks and even wearables, all running on different operating systems with their own security needs. Trying to keep this chaos under control manually is only a recipe for disaster. And it becomes exponentially harder when you take into account the scams waiting around every corner. Attackers are not just casting wide nets anymore; they are crafting highly personalised phishing attacks that can easily fool generic defences.

Using a Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) solution undoubtedly remains the best approach in such cases. However, as device diversity increases and scams become more complex, even UEMs require a touch of AI.

Modern GenAI powered UEMs can generate custom scripts capable of implementing customised solutions for such unique device management challenges.  All an admin has to do is describe the task in plain language, say generate a script to automatically create backups of critical files and directories every 24 hours, and GenAI handles the rest. It ensures they comply with organisational standards and even schedules their execution. That is not all. GenAI can also generate detailed reports, like identifying endpoints running outdated security patches or listing devices with unrestricted USB access, giving IT teams a clear view of the weak spots.

And it’s not just IT admins; AI-powered chatbots embedded within the UEM interface, are making life easier for the end users too. We’ve all been there, stuck on a problem, referring through endless help documentation, and dreading the wait for IT support.  If a user cannot connect to a secure VPN or encounters access errors, the chatbot walks them through a step-by-step fix, preventing risky workarounds. No more back and forth emails or listening to hold music. Users get instant answers when they need them.

The cyber arms race is in full throttle, and AI is fuelling both sides. Attackers today are breaking in within minutes, and the sprawl of endpoints is only growing. So, the only way to strike back is to harness the defensive side of AI where it matters the most within endpoint security and management. Managing endpoints with UEM is one thing but marrying it with AI for a more proactive endpoint security gives us a real chance to stand firm against the next wave of cyber onslaughts.

Hear from the Security Middle East Ambassadors

“With rapid technological advancements, AI has become an indispensable tool, especially in security. Its ability to analyse vast amounts of data at incredible speed provides security teams with a crucial edge in detecting threats and making proactive decisions. However, increased reliance on AI also raises concerns about data protection and ethical considerations.

“In my view, it is essential to establish a strict governance and transparency framework to ensure AI is used responsibly. Adopting a ‘privacy by design’ approach is crucial to guarantee that data is handled securely without compromising individuals’ rights. Striking the right balance between leveraging AI capabilities and ensuring privacy protection is the key to a safer future.”

Turki Al-Malki, Security Facilities & Vigilance Manager at Riyadh Air