IBM researchers started training Watson in the fundamentals of cybersecurity at the beginning of 2016, so the computer could begin to analyse and prevent threats. Now it graduates to real-world situations to further hone its skills.
Watson’s great skill is the ability to contextualize that information by combining structured data such as specific security events with unstructured data like white papers, research reports, and blog posts. Researchers fed the program up to 15,000 documents each month through the fall, linking it to libraries and news feeds in real-time to keep its knowledge base current.
During the beta, Watson will embed with a few dozen companies and provide their security analysts with reports and recommendations. Specifically, Watson can identify whether a security event is associated with known malware and provide relevant background, as well as identify suspicious user behaviour.
Furthermore, the program doesn’t replace humans, but rather helps make them faster and more comprehensive in their response. IBM research shows that security teams sift through an average of 200,000 potentially significant events per day; a computer that prioritizes those events and reveals how they fit into the broader security climate saves worlds of time.
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