Splunk 2024 Predictions: AI is set to transform cybersecurity and observability

CXOToday attended Splunk’s first briefing with the media and below are the highlights.

AI Adoption in India

India is fast progressing to be a digital economy, with businesses harnessing AI to drive innovation in work processes and products. Per a recent report, over 90% of business leaders in India are bullish on AI and plan increased investments in the technology over the next 12-18 months. In fact, in Splunk’s Digital Resilience Report, we also learnt that Indian organisations are considered more advanced in their digital resilience maturity and were the most likely to state that most of their workflows are already fully automated.

Opportunities and Cybersecurity Challenges

As AI adoption gains momentum, it also creates opportunities for cyber adversaries to launch more sophisticated attacks. Bad actors can leverage AI to launch deep fakes and spread disinformation, expanding the attack surface of organisations as well as public institutions. This trend is prevalent among financial institutions in India, which are more vulnerable to cyber threats. Recent data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) shows that in the H1 FY24, there were over 14,000 cases of banking-related scams.

Hence, addressing these existential security threats calls for placing more emphasis on a robust cybersecurity strategy to foster long-term business resilience.

Key trends on security and observability that have been outlined by Splunk for 2024:

1. CISOs will have more at stake.
   • In 2024, CISOs will also have more at stake as the regulatory environment becomes more stringent, more complex and harder to navigate.
   • 79% of line-of-business stakeholders see the security team as either a trusted source of information or a key enabler of the organisation’s mission. (from State of Security 2023).
2. AI will open a Pandora’s box of escalating privacy and security woes.
   • While security practitioners will reap the benefits of AI, it’s equally likely that cybercriminals will explore ways to wield it as yet another weapon in their arsenal. AI will no doubt expand organisations’ attack surfaces as bad actors push its uses to new extremes.
3. AI will take on security tasks.
   • Recent research from Splunk’s CISO Report revealed that 86% of security leaders believe generative AI will alleviate skills gaps and talent shortages.
   • AI will be more like that assistant you can’t function without, taking on repetitive, mundane and labor-intensive tasks.
4. CIOs and CTOs will cut back on their architecture and infrastructure spending, making this the year of mindful budgets and massive disruption.
   • Though people are excited about AI, they are also nervous – CIOs and CTOs will feel the demand to get more from less.
5. AI will change the way we detect and identify anomalies — it won’t replace manual troubleshooting’.
   • AI will bring a more concise understanding of what’s going on in an environment. First AI will tackle anomaly detection, next up will be investigation and automated response. We will see automated remediation in the near future.
6. Observability becomes a meaningful signal to security operations.
   • For many vendors, observability products are completely separate from security products. Customers are often frustrated by their lack of interoperability.
   • Whether your servers live in the cloud or a back corner of your garage, a DevSecOps mindset will lead your organisation — big or small — toward digital resilience.

Splunk Executive Quotes

Robert Pizzari, Group Vice President, Strategic Advisor, Asia Pacific, Splunk said, “Generative AI is poised to enhance the portfolios and tactics of malicious actors. In 2024, we foresee the emergence of novel attack methods, where AI will not be the sole instrument introducing new threats as the robust adoption of 5G in India will also broaden the attack surface in ways that currently lack adequate protection, therefore presenting more opportunities for cybercriminals.”

Dhiraj Goklani, Area Vice President, Sales, South Asia, Splunk, said “With India’s appetite for growth and innovation, businesses in the country are ready to leverage the AI opportunity and are gearing up their investments to build competencies and capabilities around the technology.”

“As AI transforms cybersecurity and observability, Splunk’s unified solutions empower organisations in India to stay ahead and be resilient in the era of AI. Together with our robust partner ecosystem in India, Splunk remains committed in helping businesses to adapt quickly, at scale,” he added.

Splunk is committed to help businesses enhance their digital resilience

Powered by AI, Splunk’s unified security and observability platform helps organisations build digital resilience. Financial institutions in India are faced with constant risks and cyber threats. With AI designed to keep humans in the loop, Splunk’s proactive threat detection, investigation, and response capabilities allow security teams to proactively prevent data breaches and financial frauds while assisting ITOps and engineering teams to minimise downtime and focus on customers, ultimately contributing to long-term Return on Investment (ROI).

Resources

To download the 2024 Splunk Predictions reports, please visit: https://www.splunk.com/en_us/campaigns/future-predictions.html

For more details on these trends, you can also refer to Splunk’s blog: https://www.splunk.com/en_us/blog/leadership/2024-predictions-ai-innovation-meets-digital-resilience.html