Are AI Agents the Future of Cybersecurity Incident Management?

February 06, 2025

The headlines read “OpenAI Rolls out assistant-like feature ‘Tasks’ to take on Alexa, Siri” – Reuters, January 14^th, 2025

This may seem insignificant, and maybe even spawn an “Ok, so what?” response. But as 2025 unfolds, this is significant, because it ushers in the age of the AI Agent. What exactly is an AI Agent? It is the ability to run scheduled activities utilizing AI to enhance these “scheduled activities”.

AI Agents will potentially redefine the landscape of cybersecurity particularly in incident management. These intelligent systems are capable of analyzing large data streams, indentifying threats, making automated decisions and performing automated actions. With the potential to be integrated into Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), Managed Detection and Response (MDR), and Vulnerability Management Workflows, this sparks a critical question: Are AI Agents the future of cybersecurity incident management?

How AI Agents are Transforming CyberSecurity

1. SIEM Enhancements:

AI agents can enhance SIEM platforms by automating the correlation of log data, reducing noise, and prioritizing critical incidents. Instead of relying solely on human analysts to sift through millions of alerts, AI can identify patterns, detect anomalies, and deliver actionable insights in real time. Empowering security teams to focus on responding to threats rather than finding them.

Reference:

  -  The Wall Street Journal; “The AI Effect: Amazon Sees Nearly 1 Billion Cyber Threats a Day”, November 21^st, 2024

  -  Financial Times; “Technology and cyber crime:how to keep out the bad guys”, July 3^rd, 2024

  -  Investopedia; “These are the Cyber Chiefs’ Biggest Fears About AI”, September 24^th, 2024

     2. MDR Optimization:

Managed Detection and Response services can benefit from AI Agents through faster threat detection and automated response mechanisms, AI agents can initiate containment measures, like isolating affected systems faster than a human can, minimizing potential damage. This speed is especially critical in advanced persistent threats (APTS) and ransomware scenarios, where faster responses can be critical. 

Reference:

  -  The Wall Street Journal; “OpenAI Enters Silicon Valley’s Hot New Business: War”, November 4^th, 2024

     3. Vulnerability Management Enhancement:

AI Agents used in Vulnerability Management scenarios can streamline the identification and prioritization of vulnerabilities by analyzing threat intelligence to exploit the likelihood and potential business impact. These agents, operating as task managers can automate patching, significantly reducing the windo of exposure for organizations.

Reference:

  -  TechTarget; “How AI will Transform Vulnerability Manaegment for the better”, August 29^th, 2024

Compliance Implications

AI Agents can reshape how organizations approach compliance. Continuously monitoring systems for compliance deviations, AI Agents can provide real-time reports and automated remediation, simplify adherence to specified directives, aligned to trained frameworks like NIST AI Risk Management Framework, ISO 27001, and GDPR or HIPAA. However, integrating AI agents requires careful consideration and expertise in regulatory details, particularly around data privacy and accountability.

Pros of AI Agents in Cybersecurity Incident Management

• Speed and Scalability: AI Agents process and respond to incidents exponentially faster than human teams, enabling 24/7 protection across expansive attack surfaces
• Reduced Human Workload: By automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks, AI agents free up agents to focus on strategic initiatives as well as other thought areas of Incident Management
• Improved Accuracy: AI agents use advanced Machine Learning (ML) Models to reduce false positives, ensuring critical threats are appropriately identified. 
• Proactive Threat Hunting: AI agents can identify potential vulnerabilities and mitigate risks before they escalate into full-blown incidents. 
• Cost Efficiency: Over time, AI agents can reduce the need for extensive human labor, lowering operational costs..

Cons of AI Agents in Cybersecurity Incident Management

• Implementation Costs: Deploying and training AI systems can require significant upfront investment in Infrastructure and expertise.
• Complexity and Maintenance: AI agents must be continuously updated with new threat intelligence and monitored to avoid misconfigurations and improper LLM AI agent training aspects. 
• Over-reliance Risk: Excessive reliance on AI could leave organizations vulnerable if the system fails or is compromised. 
• Regulatory and Ethical Concerns: Using AI for automated decision-making raises many questions about accountability, especially in compliance-heavy industries.
• Skill Gap: Organzations may struggle to find talent with the expertise to manage and optimize AI-driven security systems.

Human-in-the-Loop Consideration

As with all AI use or interaction there is always the need for a Human to make valuable decisions, provide necessary input and analyze the data that is retrieved or presented from AI. This is a critical component of the success of not just AI but the introduction of AI agents. After all it is the human that decides what the AI response should be and if there is an approval needed or perhaps decision points to be injected before live actions are taken, then AI is subject to these parameters and criteria. However this is a shift of the work paradigm, taking the repetitive tasks on to complete them in an efficient manner, yet allowing the human to make the final call. Machine based work, Human centric strategic thinking.

The Verdict: Are AI Agents the Future?

AI agents can undoubtedly transform cybersecurity incident management. AI’s ability to process very large amounts of data, identify threats in real time, and automate responses makes them an invaluable asset in the battle against cybercrime. However, AI’s success hinges on proper implementation, governance and alignment with human expertise and oversight. 

Whilte AI agents may not entirely replace human analysts, they are poised to become an indispensable partner, augmenting human capabilities and reshaping the cyber security landscape. As organizations balance the pros and cons of the use of AI in their integrations with SIEM, MDR and Vulnerability Management workflows, it seems less like a question of “if” and more a questions of “when”.

What does the future look like? Is it a hybrid team of Human and Ai agents working in tandem? Is the combined speed and precision of machines coupled with the intuition and creativity of people the next big thing? In this new era, organizations that adapt quickly to this symbiosis of human/AI interaction will be best positioned to navigate an increasingly complex threat landscape.

Find out how Optiv + ClearShark can help your organization with Compliance, Governance, Risk, Integration and solutioning of AI driven capabilities.

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