The cyber world has been transformed with the masses moving business functions to the cloud. The strategic move, while giving new levels of scalability and agility, has dramatically expanded the enterprise attack surface. Meanwhile, the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) has brought a new element in the security sphere, providing attackers and defenders alike with capabilities of speed and scale that were previously inconceivable. In such an environment, where cybercriminals can employ AI to enable the automation of sophisticated campaigns—from making targeted phishing to developing adaptive malware—traditional, signature-dependent security controls are no longer effective. On the subject, Mr. Saket Newaskar, AI Transformation Head, Expleo contributes, “As organisations increasingly adopt cloud technologies, keeping systems secure in the age of smart machines means using AI as a central part of cyber-defence. Traditional security controls alone are no longer sufficient. Hackers now use AI to launch highly targeted, rapid attacks, sometimes within an hour, by crafting deepfakes, spear phishing, or tampering with AI models.” At the same time, defenders can also use AI to sort through various datasets, detect anomalies in real-time, and react autonomously – significantly reducing the mean time to detect and remediate. In cloud infrastructures, the stakes are high: hybrid and multi-cloud environments introduce complexity, sprawl, and incompatible identities.
The cloud environment’s dynamic, distributed, and API-based nature makes AI-driven defense particularly vital, moving security from reactive to proactive. AI’s defensive strength lies in its ability to process and analyze huge volumes of security data—logs, network flows, cloud API calls, and user activity—at speeds and scales beyond human capability. This empowers next-generation defense. “While machines revolutionize intelligence in the digital environment, next-generation defense is needed for the security of the cloud. The incidence of AI-driven cyberattacks is rising sharply, approximately 60% of businesses are expected to be hit by AI threats in the year 2026, according to Gartner. AI should not be seen as a risk, but the frontier of ultimate defense that detects anomalies up to 40% more quickly and reduces false positives as much as 50%.” says Mr. Aditya Joshi, COO, SA Technologies Inc. This greater precision, especially in detecting Anomalous Indicators of Attack (IOAs) and utilizing User and Entity Behaviour Analytics (UEBA), helps ensure that security teams are dedicating their valuable resources to actual threats, rather than wasting time on false positives.
Beyond core detection, AI is essential in enhancing the overall strategic security position of the cloud, from identity management to system resiliency. The strategic alignment of AI allows organizations to build strong, responsive defense systems. “We suggest integrating AI into identity and access management, posture monitoring such as Zero Trust, and proactive threat detection to enhance safety. Effective AI-driven cloud security must be explainable, resilient to adversarial attacks, and adaptable as systems grow. By leveraging federated learning, self-healing agents, and digital twins, we view AI as a strategic asset in cloud defence.” Mr. Newaskar concluded. Through the infusion of AI-driven security intelligence into the fabric of cloud operations, teams can power predictive monitoring as well as support self-healing infrastructure, where systems automatically remediate vulnerability or quarantine threats.
While AI’s transformative power is real, its implementation comes with its own distinct set of challenges, which the defenders need to tackle round the clock. “With evolving cyber threats, AI is becoming a necessary component of cloud security. It enables real-time detection of threats, automating response and analyzing risk patterns for predictive analysis and prevention, ensuring teams are one step ahead of cyber attackers. However, with this evolution comes new hurdles. Malicious players can be used to exploit AI systems, and they could be faster than security provisions and resulting in a blind spot. In order to secure AI systems and use AI capabilities to improve their security profile, organisations will need to adopt both an offensive and a defensive approach. Both sets of benefits from this defence paradigm are vital in protecting today’s digital businesses,” adds Ms. Sarika Shetty, Co-founder and CEO, RentenPe. Last but not least, AI and cloud security is not a decision; it is an inevitable necessity for agile digital businesses of the future.
“The combination of cloud computing and artificial intelligence is changing the cybersecurity landscape as businesses speed up their digital transformation. The size, complexity, and speed of contemporary cyberthreats are too great for conventional, rule-based defense systems to handle. AI advances predictive intelligence by facilitating automated threat response, adaptive defenses that change with each new attack vector, and real-time anomaly detection. The goal of cloud security in the era of intelligent machines is to enable systems to learn, anticipate, and act on their own rather than merely securing perimeters. Using AI to create robust, self-healing digital ecosystems—rather than as a tool—is the key to the future of cyber defense.” Pankaj Tripathi, Founder & CEO at Vernost
