Google security veteran warns AI cyber defenses won’t help, yet

Google security veteran Heather Adkins warned artificial intelligence powered cyberdefenses arent' at the capacity to thwart cyberattacks adding that companies are better off paying a bunch of junior engineers to patch vulnerabilities all day.

Adkins is a founding member of Google's security team and warned an audience at TechCrunch Disrupt 2017 in San Francisco that AI cyberdefenses are still producing too many false positives and that AI-powered security software can barely stop 1970's era attack methods, according to CNBC.

"AI is good at spotting anomalous behavior, but it will also spot 99 other things that people need to go in and check" out, only to discover it wasn't an attack, Adkins said adding that the attack methods haven't changed much over time.

Another challenge is that machine learning requires feedback to know what is good and bad which is hard to spot when malicious programs mask their true nature.

She added that more talent, less technology is the best strategy for keeping networks safe.