Cofounder, Cylance
Search every verified Ryan Permeh interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a June 2018 interview at Black Hat, Ryan Permeh, cofounder and chief scientist at Cylance, discussed the role of artificial intelligence in cybersecurity. Permeh stated that cyberattacks have become more public and carry greater reputational and business consequences, citing examples such as state actors, ransomware, and WikiLeaks. He argued that the security industry faces a shortage of skilled personnel, describing a "negative 200 percent unemployment rate" in security, and said that scaling the problem requires tools and technology rather than relying solely on human capital. Permeh described Cylance's approach as using machine learning to offload tasks such as malware protection and incident response from humans. He emphasized that effective AI requires world-class data scientists, subject-matter experts, and engineering, and cautioned that without these elements, organizations face significant challenges. Permeh also promoted Cylance's "compromise assessment" service, which he said allows the company to test networks for potential threats.
“Over the last several years attacks have become much more public and because of that we've seen a lot more involvement in board level and even in the media, so the reputational damage of an attack can be significant.”
“Everything from state actors to crime continue to increase in both frequency and potential damage — everything from leaking email spools to WikiLeaks to stopping your business through ransomware has been popping up as more companies start to realize this.”
“If you take the WannaCry attacks it had a brand new disclosed zero day and it used a worm-like mechanic — both of those are interesting and unique — but the ransomware portion was pretty standard offering and the vast majority of the code could have been from any other piece of ransomware out there.”
“Taking a quote from Ben Franklin, 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure' — it's very important for us to consider things like forensics and incident response, but those can't be our frontline defense.”
Ryan Permeh, Founder and Chief Scientist of Cylance®, examines the redemptive role of artificial intelligence (AI) in a beleaguered cybersecurity industry. AI can address the security personnel shortage and outpace rising malware attacks – but like any tool it must be used properly. Only great AI delivers great results. Learn More: https://www.blackhat.com/us-18/execin...
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