Microsoft Copilot for Security with GPT-4 available globally April 1st: what it’s for

Copilot for SecurityMicrosoft’s chatbot dedicated to cybersecurity based on the generative artificial intelligence model GPT-4 of OpenAI, successfully concluded the testing phase and, therefore, will be released globally on Monday, April 1, 2024. It is the first AI-based solution created to help cybersecurity and IT professionals detect digital threats more quickly and accurately, two essential elements for establishing an effective strategy against cybercriminals. The tool can be used both as an independent service and as an integrated service if Microsoft security products are already used.

How Microsoft Copilot for Security works

Copilot for Security bases its operation on the so-called threat intelligence, which is about collecting data containing detailed information about cyber threats targeting an organization. The use of threat intelligence allows industry professionals to have better proactivity in preventing new attacks and better managing those that may already be underway.

In this regard, Microsoft has stated that Copilot for Security analyzes overall something like further 78 trillion security alerts combined with cutting-edge linguistic models which, together, make the fight against cyber threats more effective.

The functioning of Copilot for Security is represented in the following Microsoft infographic, which well summarizes the various steps with which a request is taken care of and satisfied by the algorithm.

To put it simply, the user (for example the professional who manages the IT security of a certain company), sends a prompt (i.e. a text command) to Copilot for Security. The service algorithm, then, exploiting artificial intelligence, goes to determine the initial context of the request and, by comparing it with the enormous amount of data at his disposal, he manages to understand what possible actions could be taken in terms of IT security and this is where returns a response to the user who queried the chatbot. This whole process, obviously, happens in a very short time.

At the moment the solution is equipped with ainterface localized in 25 languages and is capable of understand and satisfy requests in 8 languages.

Speed ​​and precision to fight cyber threats

A study conducted internally by Microsoft last January highlighted some encouraging data regarding the significant advantages in terms of speed and precision given by the use of Copilot for Security.

According to the study, in fact, thanks to Copilot for Security, security analysts have worked on 22% faster and they increased the rate of precision in its activities 7%. It is no coincidence that the majority of participants (well 97%) expressed the intention to continue to use Copilot for Security in their work, as also highlighted in the following graph.

The new features of Microsoft Copilot for Security

On this occasion, Microsoft also announced new features of Copilot for Security.

1. Personalized promptbooks to enable customers to create and save a series of useful prompts in natural language.
2. Knowledgebase integration to integrate Copilot for Security within business logic and processes while also performing customized activities.
3. Connect to the custom external attack surface from Defender EASM to manage and protect companies’ external attack surface by analyzing and identifying the most up-to-date risk information.
4. Microsoft Login and Diagnostic Logs Login (the family of products for all Microsoft identity and network access solutions) which are summarized in natural language and which are useful for having a clearer picture of the situation thanks to insights for security investigations and problem analyzes IT audit logs related to a specific user or a particular event.
5. Usage reports to gain insights into how teams are leveraging Copilot, so you can understand how to optimize processes even better.

Thanks to the introduction of these innovations, Microsoft is determined to achieve the objective that it put down in black and white in the press release announcing the global availability of the chatbot:

With this announcement, Microsoft intends to continue its security vision of putting industry-leading generative AI into the hands of security professionals and providing the tools to safely and responsibly deploy and use AI.