Security Evolution — From Legacy to Advanced, to ML and AI

Security has evolved over the last few decades. It started off with antivirus systems that were for a long time referred to as the ultimate cybersecurity tools. These were then joined by an array of other tools.

Before 1971, cybersecurity was unheard of. That is unsurprising, since computers were still being developed, were too pricey for hackers, and only a few people knew how to write code to do basic input/output functions. A researcher called Bob Thomas then discovered that it was possible to create a malicious program that could propagate from one computer to another and leave an annoying message. Following this discovery, another researcher modified the program so that it could become self-replicating. Essentially, he created the first computer worm. He then decided to build another program that could catch the malicious one and delete it from a computer, thus stopping it from replicating and spreading further. This was the world's first antivirus software.

However, the cybersecurity space has dramatically changed since the 1970s. Threats have become more complex and this necessitated the development of more complex security systems. Advancements in technology have offered hackers more tools and techniques with which to build threats. In addition to this, security systems are having to cover for technologies that were built without security in mind. Such technologies include the internet, which is relied on by billions of people. Therefore, cybersecurity has had to do more than evolve to respond to the cyber threats landscape; it has had to foresee and future-proof systems, users, and networks from attacks. This chapter discusses the evolution of cybersecurity and the future of the integration of cybersecurity with machine learning and artificial intelligence, and will cover the following topics: