Business leaders in the digital age face remarkably urgent risk factors in an era of automated and fast-moving cyber-threat. These risks have heightened dramatically in recent years as threats develop and become more advanced, and as our digital businesses continue to grow in complexity, diversity, and scale.

In the past, when threat actors were less advanced and when networks were more predictable, a traditional approach to security was often adequate to keep cyber-threats at bay.

However, the increasing frequency of novel external attacks and insider threats, together with the complexity and subtlety of daily behaviors in a business, have gradually disarmed security teams who still rely on traditional controls. Traditional defenses fail to detect the novel tactics and techniques of sophisticated cyber-criminals, who can now blend into the noise of the network and sweep through large and complex infrastructures within seconds.

This whitepaper details seven case studies of attacks that were intercepted and neutralized by cyber-defense AI, including insider threat, ransomware and IoT attacks. While all threat scenarios were distinct, some fast-moving and others slow and stealthy, in all cases the subtle indicators of suspicious activity were only detectable using Darktrace AI, which learns what is normal for the business environment and autonomously responds to attacks – before damage is done.