Microsoft launches new security AI agents to help overworked cyber professionals

Microsoft is expanding its Security Copilot service with new AI agents to help overworked IT teams deal with surging security threats.

The company is adding 11 agents in total – six developed by Microsoft and five built by its partners – to the Security Copilot as part of an April preview.

The generative AI-powered Security Copilot was launched by Microsoft a year ago as a $4 per hour consumption model (pay-as-you-use). The service was designed to help to improve security outcomes at machine speed and scale, with natural language models.

It can be used as both a standalone experience or in tandem with other products in the Microsoft Security portfolio, such as Microsoft Defender XDR, Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft Intune, Microsoft Entra, and other third-party services like Red Canary and Jamf.

All the new agents will be focused on helping teams tackle the ever increasing threats they face. Microsoft said they are all purpose-built for security and that they can learn from feedback and adapt to workloads.

What’s more, all 11 are aligned to the tech giant’s Zero Trust framework.

“This is just the beginning; our security AI research is pushing the boundaries of innovation, and we are eager to continuously bring even greater value to our customers at the speed of AI,” Alexander Stojanovic, VP of Microsoft Security AI Applied Research, wrote in a blog post.

The agents will add security ‘Triages’ onto different products, such as a ‘Phishing Triage’ in Microsoft Defender with alerts and simplified explanations for the decisions it makes.

Agents will also offer optimization in different products, such as the ‘Conditional Access Optimization Agent’ which will be deployed in Microsoft Entra.

This, the tech giant revealed, will monitor new users or apps that are not covered by existing policies, and help to identify the need for updates or security gaps they might create – the agent will recommend quick fixes.

Other agents will deal with security information, such as the Threat Intelligence Briefing agent and the Vulnerability Remediation agent.

MORE FROM ITPRO

• Microsoft is increasing payouts for its Copilot bug bounty program
• Microsoft says its Copilot for Security tool is a powerful weapon in the fight against hackers
• Enterprise AI is surging, but is security keeping up?