Hackers Beware: IBM Unleashes Supercomputer Watson to Tackle Cybercrime

Sherlock Holmes is one of the most famous detectives in fiction, but without his dear Dr. Watson, he would have been stumped on occasion. There’s a good reason why IBM named its super-intelligent computer, Watson, after the famous character. True to its namesake, Watson is now being used to safeguard 40 organizations from cyber security threats.

This is the result of one year of training where Watson sifted through immense amounts of data to find information pertaining to cyber attacks. Watson can dig through various news sources and online databases to take the good fight to the latest security problems, and by taking a look at what the industry’s current best practices are, it’s even capable of prioritizing the most dangerous threats out there.

Granted, Watson wasn’t built from the ground up to be the best detective in the world. At first, it couldn’t even identify what ransomware was. It actually thought that ransomware was the name of a place, rather than the nastiest threat that you could run into on the Internet.

Thanks to Watson studying a ton of data, the supercomputer can now take the next step in its journey to end all cybercrime. The computer will look through security events from all kinds of companies in an attempt to find patterns or trends that hint toward actual threats, and ones that are caused by simple user error.

Of course, any new technology will suffer from the same faults as you might expect, including the learning curve. However, the capabilities of Watson to find potential threats can only increase as development continues. Unfortunately, not all organizations have the luxury of relying on a supercomputer to manage their network security, so you need to make arrangements to ensure that your business isn’t vulnerable to potential threats.

Network security is something that all businesses need to consider. Macro Systems can equip your organization with what’s called a Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution. A UTM includes a firewall, antivirus, spam blocker, and content filter, allowing your organization to detect threats and eliminate problems in a prompt manner. It’s a great way to protect your business from the dangers of the web without hindering operations. Furthermore, it’s an automated solution, so while it’s certainly no Watson, you’ll have your own detective-like security solution looking for dangerous entities on your network.

To learn more, reach out to us at 703-359-9211.