Transforming cybersecurity with Elastic Search AI: A game-changer for Proficio

Recognizing the sheer volume of data from various sources, Proficio sought a solution that could enhance its threat detection and response capabilities while reducing the workload on its analysts.

Proficio turned to Elastic’s AI-driven security analytics, leveraging Elastic AI Assistant and Elastic Attack Discovery to revolutionize its cybersecurity operations. Elastic’s robust analytics engine running on Amazon Web Services (AWS) enabled Proficio to automate the detection of anomalies and malicious activities within the data stream, providing much-needed efficiency and accuracy. Thanks to Elastic Security, Proficio can also keep large volumes of historical data in searchable cold storage, or an Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) storage bucket that can be online within an hour.

“At first, integrating Elastic’s AI capabilities was a significant shift from our traditional methods,” said Brad Taylor, CEO & Co-Founder at Proficio. “However, as we adapted to the platform, it became evident that the AI-based insights were pivotal in elevating our cybersecurity threat detection and response.”

The journey was not without its challenges, particularly the initial learning curve for the threat detection content and security analysts teams. Persistent collaboration between Proficio and Elastic’s dedicated engineering team was key to overcoming obstacles such as customizing Elastic AI Assistant’s pre-built alerts to fit Proficio's unique security detection and validation context. This helped in significantly reducing false positives and alert fatigue for its analysts.

• 34% reduction in investigation time: Enabled by interacting with Elastic AI Assistant for Security on expert-level alert summaries, contextual elastic queries, and pre-written remediation steps.
• Cost efficiency: At less than half a cent per investigation, the projected cost savings of using the AI Assistant for every Elastic alert are expected to be around $1 million over three years.
• New analyst support: The AI Assistant feature greatly aids in onboarding, providing insights and answers that would typically require a senior analyst’s intervention.

One critical strategy employed by Proficio was leveraging Elastic’s pre-built alerts and contextual queries. By finely tuning these tools, the team could distill relevant threat information, enabling a more streamlined and effective response to potential threats.

Taylor recalled a pivotal moment that highlighted Elastic’s impact: “During an analysis session, an alert for a possible breach emerged. The enrichment and correlation provided by Elastic allowed us to leap into action immediately, transitioning from a reactive to a more proactive security stance.” With the addition of Attack Discovery to Elastic Security’s AI features, the team expects additional benefits, such as reduced alert fatigue and mean time to respond to threats by reducing time spent on manual threat hunting.

The fruitful partnership with Elastic has opened the door for a future where Proficio can delve deeper into proactive threat hunting and security automation. Proficio anticipates leveraging Elastic’s AI and machine learning advancements on AWS to build automated alert workflows, further bolstering its capabilities to preempt cyber threats. With Elastic AI Assistant and Attack Discovery, teams can interact with alerts to receive alert summaries, Elastic queries, and natural language guidance steps for remediation, even before an analyst intervenes. Amazon Bedrock is a key supporting element for natural language processing, enabling customers to select a supported LLM of their choosing to enhance results.

“Our journey is far from over,” Taylor reflected. “We are eager to explore further integrations to augment our analysts’ efforts. While we remain conscious of regulatory guidelines, we are poised to capitalize on these AI advancements, ensuring Proficio can maintain a fortified barrier against cyber adversaries.”

Elastic Security’s advancements offer transformative potential exemplifying the importance of embracing innovative solutions to enhance cybersecurity operations. As Elastic continues to evolve its Search AI Platform, organizations like Proficio can look forward to even greater protection and resiliency of its critical infrastructures.

Want to learn more? Check out the full Proficio story.

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