In 2024, cyber threats are a huge threat to companies. If a business doesn’t have cyber security defences in place, they are more vulnerable to phishing and malware issues. As a result, corporate data and customer data are at risk. This not only poses a threat of theft of funding or assets which impact business but also can hugely impact reputation and cause lawsuits from customers’ information being leaked.

This means that it is more critical than ever to put in place robust cybersecurity measures across organisations. As technology has advanced at a rapid pace, cybersecurity has become a priority for businesses with issues that can no longer be solved by the IT department alone.

A shortage of experts with the skills needed to protect companies from cyber attacks continues to be a running theme throughout 2024. In the 2023 Official Cybersecurity Jobs report from Cybersecurity Ventures, in 2025 there is still likely to be c.3.5 million unfilled jobs within the sector worldwide.

As a result, it’s beneficial for companies to invest in other tools to protect companies from attacks.

With this in mind, this blog explores whether AI and LLM are useful tools for cyber security defences.

What is AI & LLM and how can they enhance cyber security measures?

What is AI?

AI has been a hot topic across industries over the last few years. Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines. It can be combined with things such as robotics, sensors, or GPS and can include things from anything such as digital assistants to self-driving cars. It can also work on its own with generative AI tools such as Chat GPT.

The technology is based on algorithms which are modelled from human responses, which is then learned and over time make more accurate answers and performance.

What is an LLM?

LLMs also use algorithms but they specifically use data to learn and generate text-based content in response to prompts, such as Chat GPT and other generative AI tools.

How can they help with cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity defences are measures and strategies which are put in place to protect computer systems, or networks, from cyber threats and attacks, and further repercussions down the line for organisations.

As companies attempt to protect their sensitive data and infrastructure from the ongoing and emerging threats of cyber attacks, they could possibly consider turning to innovative technologies, such as AI and LLMs, to enhance their defence mechanisms.

They can use automated security monitoring tools to detect any signs that measures put in place have failed. Normally, this would alert a member of the team to look into it and protect the business. Often, this can be reactive rather than proactive. With AI and LLMs in place, they can act as preventative, blocking any attacks and, what’s more important, detecting trends and patterns worldwide so that the technology is more sophisticated from the outset.

But are AI and LLM truly beneficial for cybersecurity defences?– read more below.

Benefits of AI for cybersecurity defences

A huge benefit of AI in cybersecurity is its ability for threat detection and prevention. Traditional cybersecurity systems have struggled to evolve as fast as cybercriminals and hackers. AI cybersecurity solutions are capable of evolving at the same pace as cybercriminals because they analyse data in real time.

Where there are gaps in human involvement in preventing cyberattacks, AI takes away these time-consuming processes. By taking advantage of machine learning algorithms, AI can identify patterns and trends in cyber attacks, enabling companies to stay one step ahead of cybercriminals. This fress up the human workforce to focus on more complex tasks, overall increasing security across the organisational operations and for enhanced efficiency.

In addition, AI-powered systems are capable of autonomously responding to security incidents and initiating actions, such as isolating compromised devices and blocking suspicious network traffic. This automated response capability minimises the time between detection and remediation, thereby limiting the impact of cyber attacks.

The integration of AI within the cybersecurity of an organisation can not only detect and prevent cyber attacks but also enhance the overall security throughout the operations. Threat responses can be adapted and automated and avoid malware or suspicious fraudulent communication and provide an added layer of protection.

Benefits of LLM for cybersecurity defences

LLMs are also powerful tools for enhancing cybersecurity defences, particularly in the realm of threat intelligence and analysis. Professionals believe that LLMs are capable of boosting efforts to protect against data breaches and pinpoint company vulnerabilities before an attack occurs. As a result, they’ve been a key asset in the revolution of cybersecurity measures.

LLMs have an incredible capability to contextualise large amounts of data, normally text-based including social media, community forums and a vast amount of web content. They analyse language and linguistics, so they can easily detect things such as phishing emails and fraudulent attacks quickly.

Whilst there are some concerns regarding understanding certain contexts, which can still lead to misinterpretations and data privacy concerns when it comes to sensitive data, the technology is still advancing at a rapid rate due to the increased discussions and utilisation within organisations globally.

Whilst, fine-tuning is still required, the ability for LLMs can work through vast amounts of textual data from various sources, including security reports and threat feeds still provides protection for organisations. This enables the technology and the business to stay informed about emerging cyber threats and vulnerabilities.

On top of this, LLMs can assist in the creation of realistic cybersecurity simulations and scenarios, allowing companies to test their defences and improve incident response capabilities.

As research and innovation drive technology advancements, particularly with LLM and AI capabilities, security defence strategies can be significantly improved. When AI, LLM and cybersecurity experts work together collaboratively, pioneering technology will begin to show within this ever-evolving landscape.

In the cybersecurity world, we can look forward to continuous improvement and development so LLMs are refined for better performance. This will enable more accurate and proactive detection of cyber attacks, and improved and more efficient security overall.

In addition, integration of LLMs with AI such as machine learning, can help provide more robust solutions.

Plus, as we’ve seen before, as technology advances, more applications and systems come into the industry that are more sophisticated, reliable, and adaptive for each organisation.

Enhancing Cyber Security Measures

AI and LLMs hold great capabilities for enhancing cybersecurity defences. AI’s strength of threat detection and response, paired with LLMs’ strength of analysing large data sets, offers significant cyber security defence mechanisms.

These tools can not only empower companies to evolve alongside cybercriminals, anticipate threats, and enhance defences but can also create more efficiency, protect customers and work alongside the human workforce.

In the future, their capabilities will grow, offering a huge amount of potential and advanced levels of security. Whilst there’s a way to go still, AI and LLM are definitely integral to cyber security defences.

Conclusion

In conclusion, AI and LLMs are going to have a drastic effect on the technology of the future. It’s important for everyone to keep up to date with the advancements as they come.