CrowdStrike CEO: Embrace AI or be crushed by cyber crooks

In a rallying cry to security professionals, CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz warned that those who fail to embrace AI in their security operations will be left behind by relentless cybercriminals already leveraging the technology to break into networks at unprecedented speeds.

Speaking at the RSA Conference 2024 in San Francisco, Kurtz painted a stark picture of the challenges facing defenders in today's threat landscape. He revealed that CrowdStrike has observed adversaries breaking out of compromised systems and moving laterally within just two minutes and seven seconds – the fastest time recorded by the company in the past year.

"It took an adversary just 31 seconds to download their toolkit and start running reconnaissance tools, trying to exploit that system," Kurtz told the audience. "We know one of the real challenges in security is time. And we're going to talk a little bit about how we try to bend time in security."

Kurtz argued that traditional security information and event management (SIEM) solutions are no longer up to the task, bogged down by the sheer volume of data and, therefore, unable to keep pace with modern threats. He urged organizations to adopt "next-gen SIEM" solutions that integrate with security platforms, fuse data and AI automation, and provide advanced threat detection and automated response capabilities.

"The only SOC analysts that are going to be out of business are the ones that don't actually embrace AI," Kurtz warned. "Because AI is not going to do all of this, you're still going to need people to fly the planes. We're not there yet. But what I would say is, think about it, embrace it."

Highlighting the potential of AI to revolutionize security operations, Kurtz described how next-gen SIEM could automate log management, break the cost-productivity curve, and provide contextual security intelligence – giving analysts deeper insights into threats and their potential impact.

"If you haven't seen some of this stuff, and you haven't actually played with it, it's incredibly powerful," he said. "I've been doing this for a long time. And I really think it has the ability to revolutionize security, but more importantly, the operations of security."

In his concluding remarks, Kurtz emphasized the urgency of adopting AI-driven security solutions, stating: "Every time we come to an RSA, we talk about threats, and attacks and how things get worse. And I think finally, we've got some good news in terms of helping the SOC have a little bit more fun and putting some rigor and process into stopping breaches. And that is the outcome that ultimately we're here for – stop the breach."