Splunk harnesses AI to tackle alert fatigue, boost threat detection

As India accelerates its digital journey, cybersecurity challenges are intensifying across sectors. In an interaction with VARINDIA, Robert Pizzari, Group VP of Strategic Advisory for APAC at Splunk, shares insights on emerging cyber threats, including ransomware and AI-driven attacks. He also highlights how Splunk is helping Indian organisations build resilience through advanced threat detection and AI integration.

What are the key security challenges India is facing today?

India’s accelerated digital transformation brings significant cybersecurity challenges, with threats like ransomware and data breaches escalating in frequency and sophistication. The rapid adoption of cloud technology and hybrid work environments has broadened the attack surface, demanding more robust, agile security measures. However, as threats grow more complex, organisations often find themselves struggling to manage the sheer volume of security alerts. According to Splunk’s State of Observability 2024 report, 57% of Indian organisations face alert fatigue, which undermines effective incident management and leaves systems vulnerable to breaches.

This strain is compounded by a shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals, making it difficult for organisations to respond effectively to threats. Fragmented data systems also pose a challenge, with 30% of Indian organisations citing data silos as a major obstacle to cohesive security strategies. As AI adoption increases, particularly in critical sectors like finance, AI-driven cyberattacks targeting sensitive infrastructure could become a significant risk. Per a recent Reserve Bank of India report, there were over 14,000 banking-related scams in just the first half of FY24. With evolving regulatory requirements around data privacy, organisations must now adopt holistic security frameworks to address these interconnected challenges, bridging gaps in talent, technology, and compliance.

Tell us about the key cybersecurity trends that organisations should be prepared for.

Today’s cybersecurity landscape is being shaped by several transformative trends that organisations must proactively address:

·       Increased Adoption of AI and Machine Learning (ML): AI and ML are revolutionising threat detection and response, enabling proactive and dynamic defence strategies. In fact, our research reveals that 90% of Indian business leaders plan to increase AI investments in the next 12–18 months, highlighting its critical role in cybersecurity.

·       Zero Trust Security Approach: The shift towards hybrid and remote work environments has made the adoption of Zero Trust security models essential. This approach mandates strict access controls, continuous identity verification, and frequent monitoring for breaches. A Gartner report predicts that by 2025, 60% of companies will use Zero Trust solutions over traditional VPNs, driven by the need to secure remote work setups and cloud applications.

·       Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS): The rise of RaaS models has lowered the technical know-how required to pull off an attack, in turn significantly increasing the volume of attacks organisations face. Recent RBI data has also confirmed a sharp rise in UPI payment fraud cases, with financial frauds involving ₹1 lakh or more have led to losses totalling ₹2,715 crore in FY 2023-24. These figures highlight the urgent need for organisations to adopt multi-layered cybersecurity measures such as automation, AI/ML powered analytics and advanced threat detection to combat RaaS.

·       Implementing DevSecOps: Embedding security into DevOps processes is essential to address vulnerabilities early in development. Splunk’s State of DevSecOps Report 2023 reveals that organisations adopting these practices see a 40% reduction in vulnerabilities during production, showcasing the value of securing every stage of the software lifecycle.

·       Generative AI for Cybersecurity: GenAI is emerging as a powerful tool in the cybersecurity arsenal. Splunk reports that 86% of cybersecurity leaders believe GenAI can help bridge skills gaps, enabling teams to tackle emerging threats with greater efficiency.

How is Splunk leveraging AI-driven threat detection to help organisations combat increasingly sophisticated cyber threats?

For years, Splunk has recognised the value of AI, investing in and integrating it into its platform to help customers accelerate detection, investigation, and response while maintaining control over how AI is applied to their data.

By embedding AI and machine learning into its observability and security solutions, Splunk automates the detection of anomalies across digital assets, thereby accelerating response times and reducing alert fatigue. This allows security teams to focus on strategic initiatives instead of being overwhelmed by routine alerts.

Additionally, Splunk employs a human-in-the-loop approach, ensuring that AI enhances human judgment. This empowers security teams to dynamically adapt to emerging threats, combining machine precision with human insight. This strengthens decision-making and enables organisations to stay ahead of the evolving threat landscape.

What are Splunk’s offerings to address the issue?

Splunk offers a comprehensive suite of cybersecurity solutions designed to meet the unique needs of Indian organisations. A few worth noting to help organisation power the modern SOC includes:

·       Enhanced threat detection with Splunk Enterprise Security 8.0: The latest version of Splunk Enterprise Security significantly elevates threat detection and incident response capabilities through advanced analytics and an intuitive user interface. These enhancements empower security teams to effectively manage and mitigate risks. The platform delivers detailed threat insights, enabling faster and more targeted responses to complex cyber incidents.

·       AI-powered security solutions: Splunk’s integration of GenAI AI assistants transforms cybersecurity processes. By leveraging natural language processing, these tools facilitate analysts in summarising alerts, conducting searches, and automating incident reports. This enhances efficiency and alleviates the workload on security teams, addressing talent shortages—a challenge noted by 86% of CISOs who view AI as essential for bridging the cybersecurity skills gap.

·       OpenTelemetry Support: With 67% of Indian businesses adopting OpenTelemetry as their observability framework, Splunk’s support ensures seamless telemetry data collection and analysis. This empowers organisations to maintain control over their data while enhancing observability practices, leading to improved insights and decision-making.

Tell us about Splunk’s integration with Cisco reshaping the future of cybersecurity and observability in the industry.

Together, Cisco and Splunk are transforming how organisations manage their digital infrastructure by providing unparalleled visibility and insights across both owned and unowned networks, infrastructure, and applications. This synergy enhances reliability and performance, delivering a robust observability framework that spans the entire enterprise. Our game-changing, AI-powered security measures protect organisations from modern cyber threats through proactive threat detection and response.

The combined strengths of our platforms yield:

·       Enhanced Security: Comprehensive solutions for effective threat prevention, detection, investigation, and response for organisations of all sizes.

·       Improved Observability: Full-stack observability that ensures exceptional digital experiences across multi-cloud and hybrid environments.

·       Optimised Networking: Leading secure networking solutions built on an intelligent, resilient infrastructure that adapts to evolving demands.

·       Empowered AI Integration: Seamlessly harness AI securely across applications by integrating Cisco's networking capabilities with advanced security and observability

·       Economic Efficiency: A unified platform approach that consolidates various point products, enhancing business outcomes and reducing costs.

Together, we are setting a new standard for cybersecurity and observability, equipping organisations with the tools to thrive in a complex digital landscape.