Artificial intelligence is the next frontier that will raise the bar for MSSPs

With artificial intelligence being one of the current top trends in technology, Managed Security Services Providers (MSSPs) that want to stay ahead must make sure they look into how to leverage solutions powered by AI to provide better value for their customers.

Gartner has predicted that more than 80% of enterprises will have used APIs or deployed applications with this technology for generative AI alone by 2026. Many businesses will wonder if their service providers are on the same page regarding this technology or if they have a proper adoption roadmap to ensure they're not falling behind.

But AI for MSSPs isn't just about being ready to meet customer expectations. As each MSSP manages the security for multiple businesses, there are significant opportunities to craft scalable solutions that feel unique and custom-made for every client.

The industry can innovate by expanding the availability of services that businesses find too costly today and improving cybersecurity postures across the board. MSSPs can be key players in this effort—both by connecting the AI-based solutions that make this possible to the businesses that need them and by adopting AI as a component of their workflows and service portfolios.

AI products and services

Generative AI models, including large language models (LLMs), are optimal for creating content based on specific parameters and conditions. When paired with natural language processing (NSP), these models become an interface for the user to request data and receive a meaningful response.

In other words, these technologies enable the development of human-like APIs. Users can make requests for information without having to use an intermediate system for interacting with a traditional API, opening possibilities for different services and lowering training and support costs.

The speed and flexibility of these models make them a good fit for network maintenance tasks and the early stages of a security incident response process. With appropriate training, the system can prioritize events and highlight data from sources usually left unchecked due to time constraints.

AI can also facilitate access to documentation. By generating answers on the fly, a generative AI model will give users concise information on what they're searching for, even when no specific document exists.

Leveraging AI for accelerated scaling

Perhaps the largest benefit of adopting Artificial Intelligence for MSSPs is scaling existing services. With the help of AI, MSSPs can develop a cost-effective strategy to expand service offerings, reduce skill gaps, and enhance the productivity of the current team.

Polaris for MSSPs was built to accelerate scaling in Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) tasks by collecting, analyzing, and arranging data according to attack surface maps and other parameters. A human would require thousands of hours of work to review and filter the same data that Polaris makes available in minutes.

As threat actors become more sophisticated, an effective cybersecurity strategy requires the capacity to respond to changes in risk factors, new campaigns, and recent vulnerabilities. While CTI helps the Blue Team by providing the data needed to make decisions, intelligence is only valuable when it's actionable, timely, relevant, and accurate.

When it comes to speed and availability for uncovering insights quickly inside large swaths of data, there's nothing much to say—AI is unbeatable in this metric.

To improve accuracy, AI models should be tailor-made for the task they will be expected to perform. Large language models like ChatGPT or Gemini can show acceptable performance in various tasks, but accuracy can decrease when they're tasked with specific data sets.

Similarly, the output from Polaris can be used to help with resource allocation and in assessing the viability or security requirements of new projects. Several competing products can be monitored simultaneously at no additional cost, allowing Polaris to generate well-referenced threat reports from public sources and freeing analysts to solve problems and use their creativity and judgment.

From a business standpoint, this also means MSSPs can provide value-added services or support (such as security alerts and recommendations) for more unusual or unique environments without the drawbacks of permanently dedicating human resources. AI can draw attention to what matters without missing a beat or sacrificing completeness. It will always check every source for every relevant piece of information for all the different attack surface maps.

AI-powered tools can also be used alongside other solutions that are already present in a customer's environment, upgrading them with additional information and data analysis capabilities. This can either make them more effective or unearth additional insights from dashboards and logging features that are usually not monitored until it's too late.

That's why implementing Artificial Intelligence solutions has the potential to greatly benefit MSSPs looking to offer CTI services or expand the capabilities of a Security Operations Center (SOC). And while the possibilities that we have ahead of us are numerous, AI-first CTI approaches are already here.