Microsoft uses AI To protect Windows from attackers. The development represents an arms race as artificial intelligence is increasingly used to find vulnerabilities in modern technology. Hacker news.
Hackers can use artificial intelligence to find and exploit vulnerabilities that can then be weaponized. Not only is discovery accelerated, but reverse-engineering security flaws is now a much faster process thanks to artificial intelligence. This means that attackers can quickly find and exploit flaws before traditional protection methods take effect.
To combat those malicious actors and evolving tactics, Microsoft is implementing MDASH (Multi-Model Agent Scanning Harness) Scales on Windows.
shared Pavan Davuluri, EVP of Windows and Devices at Microsoft blog post about new ways the company is using to protect Windows.
“The fastest way to reduce customer exposure is to find problems before attackers exploit them,” said Davuluri. “Windows is expanding its capabilities across the platform to find problems earlier, accelerate engineering efforts to fix them, strengthen testing, and deliver timely, high-quality updates that protect customers.”
Using artificial intelligence to identify potential flaws, prioritize fixes, and scale discovery across Windows’ code base allows Microsoft to deliver protections to customers quickly.
To extend MDASH to Windows, a dedicated cloud infrastructure was built to scan for potential flaws. A separate evidence pipeline is then used to eliminate false positives. The Windows engineering team can then act on the most likely candidates that need addressing.
Microsoft will expand its use of AI for scanning and proofing to other parts of the company.
Using AI to improve work
As Microsoft announced the layoffs of 4,800 employees across the company, its leaders emphasized that the eliminated roles are not being replaced by artificial intelligence. People in various sectors worry about automation taking away human jobs.
Microsoft’s approach to scan problems and streamline the candidate selection process represents AI helping people instead of replacing them.
Speaking of improving internal systems and practices, Davuluri said, “This means using AI to help identify potential problems earlier in the development process, while relying on human expertise to evaluate findings, make risk-based decisions and ensure fixes meet the quality bar customers expect.”
The result is that more security updates will be included in each security release, which should protect computers from increasing attacks.
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