From the streets to the screens, one common denominator puts people at ease: safety. One would not risk jaywalking, as this could be life-threatening. The same rings true for life online. Why risk one’s digital activities without adequate cybersecurity?
“Cybersecurity is undergoing a complete overhaul, and it’s all thanks to the metamorphic powers of artificial intelligence,” shares Akshay Sekar Chandrasekaran, a compliance engineer specializing in cybersecurity. He discusses the development and implementation of artificial intelligence-powered autonomous security algorithms at Cloudflare, drawing on his expertise in multiple facets of digital security.
Cloudlare’s ability to harness automation and AI for proactive threat detection and response will shape the future of cybersecurity. In that respect, Cloudflare has redefined the standards of what autonomous security protection can achieve, proving that the ceiling probably does not exist.
Revamping Cybersecurity with Artificial Intelligence
“As cyber threats become increasingly sophisticated, the need for advanced security solutions has never been greater,” Akshay Sekar Chandrasekaran notes. To meet this demand head-on, thinking outside of the box is essential. At Cloudflare, autonomous and AI powered security solutions have become a keyword put into action by developing a state-of-the-art algorithm engineered to enhance Cloudflare’s security products. These initiatives help protect the company and its clients from severe financial and operational disruptions. Akshay Sekar Chandrasekaran and his team of cybersecurity experts spearheaded the development of top-tier security solutions.
“The numbers prove the algorithm’s effectiveness. It has stopped some of the largest distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks known in the cybersecurity industry,” he adds. “It’s pretty accurate in detecting and mitigating volumetric attacks at both application and network layers of an application. Consequently, the product dramatically improved response time while reducing the overall cost per incident.”
The Mechanics of AI-Powered Security
Being part of an elite team of engineers allowed Akshay Sekar Chandrasekaran to devise an autonomous algorithm by analyzing various request parameters, such as cookies, HTTP headers, and IP addresses, across multiple layers of the open systems interconnection (OSI) model. The algorithm also took the baselining of traffic into account to normalize attack parameters based on each specific scenario.
“There were some proprietary methods used in algorithms that cannot be disclosed for various reasons. The algorithm established a new standard for cybersecurity in attack mitigation,” Akshay Sekar Chandrasekaran shares. “Most cybersecurity attacks involve a manual laborious process of analyzing and correlating logs across a myriad of security systems before arriving at a decision. This informs rules to be configured in security appliances such as firewalls, gateways, and intrusion protection systems to mitigate volumetric attacks.” This rule-based approach was static and did not fit in with the dynamic threat landscape of cybersecurity. Being dynamic, the algorithm is capable of learning from past incidents to help prevent future attacks that resemble a similar pattern.
Moreover, the autonomous algorithm was responsible for mitigating a record-breaking DDoS attack that generated 71 million requests per second—35% higher than a 46 million RPS DDoS attack seen by Google. The algorithm’s ability to handle such massive traffic volumes without compromising performance highlighted its effectiveness and robustness.
The success of Cloudflare’s DDoS algorithm in mitigating these attacks demonstrates the potential of automation and artificial intelligence in upgrading cybersecurity. It has proven to be a game-changer for Cloudflare’s clients, reducing downtime and preventing significant financial losses.
Safeguarding the Future
The future of cybersecurity is expected to be heavily influenced by AI and machine learning. Ideally, this will be a future where AI enhances threat detection and response while automating many routine security tasks. In turn, this frees up human resources for more strategic initiatives. This shift is bound to be crucial in staying ahead of increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
“AI will play a central role in this proactive outlook, helping tech specialists build a more secure digital world,” declares Akshay Sekar Chandrasekaran. “One can create a digital world wherein cyber crimes are nipped in the bud by incorporating AI into the system.”
Cloudflare’s mission is to make the internet a safe and secure place, protecting clients from threats they may not even be aware of.
That said, the ability to predict is better than the ability to find a remedy. That is how to successfully transform cybersecurity into an upgraded version of its former self—one that hackers did not see coming.
As the industry continues to reform and restructure over time, the contributions of cybersecurity authorities, such as Akshay Sekar Chandrasekaran, will be vital in shielding the digital world against threats that loom around every click.
