Robotic process automation (RPA) in cybersecurity is an incredibly helpful tool. While automation can significantly improve how secure organizations are, this technology has many unique benefits. Its best use cases focus on essential aspects of security.

What Is RPA in Cybersecurity?

RPA replicates how someone carries out particular tasks. The technology utilizes software robots to mimic how humans execute their security duties. It can perform them continuously, or whenever a specific variable triggers it, so it has a wide range of applications.

Since it processes information quickly and constantly, organizations mostly use it for any simple rule-based action. In cybersecurity, it focuses on repetitive duties. Since most professionals must complete tedious work repeatedly, it can help immensely.

It frees up their time to direct their attention toward more pressing security concerns. Plus, it’s relatively easy to configure low-code automation robots, so the technology has low entry barriers in comparison with similar solutions.

1. Incident Response

Experts project cybercrime’s cost to increase by 15% annually, amounting to over $10.5 trillion in damages by 2025. A fast, reliable incident response plan can help businesses prevent expensive cyber attacks. In this case, automation is advantageous.

Cybersecurity professionals can set up the RPA bot to only react during specific instances. These triggers could be for unusual network activity or inconsistencies. Once it categorizes a threat, it can attempt to mitigate it. For example, it could transfer information to a secure location or deploy specific security controls.

2. Software Updates

Although software updates are relatively simple, they’re essential for maintaining adequate security. RPA in cybersecurity can automatically keep systems up-to-date. Since professionals would no longer need to think about doing so, they can focus on more pressing concerns.

3. Access Authorization

Cybersecurity automation is helpful when dealing with authorization. Establishing privileged access to data entries, changes and updates can significantly enhance an organization’s security. Since RPA can streamline the user identification process, it can quickly accept or deny individuals.

People with the proper credentials can monitor the bot for compliance purposes or track its actions to establish an audit trail. Since it only gives the ability to alter information storage systems to relevant professionals, it dramatically enhances security.

4. Security Tests

Penetration tests are lengthy and can come with unique security risks. While most businesses wouldn’t consider them a security concern, eliminating the possibility of any threat is in their best interest. To be safe, they can conduct the procedure with RPA.

Since it operates only on the parameters its organization gives it, it’s a very secure option. It can scan for vulnerabilities and exploit them. Once done, it can generate a thorough report of every action it took. The entire process can be much faster and more reliable with automation.

5. Breach Identification

The speed of cybersecurity automation is essential when dealing with a potential data breach. In 2022, each one cost companies $4.35 million on average. Because of this risk, preventative action is necessary.

An RPA can monitor for unusual activity and identify anything out of place. Once done, it can classify the threat type and priority level. If it recognizes the issue may be a breach, it can send a report to a human for further investigation.

6. Compliance Assurance

Surprisingly, humans are responsible for around 95% of cybersecurity issues in the workplace. Minor mistakes can cause a domino effect, affecting system or network integrity. The introduction of RPA could solve this issue.

Since it carries out tasks the same way every time, there’s no chance of human error. If it automates data security, it can even ensure compliance. For instance, it could monitor changes to consumers’ personally identifiable information to protect it.

7. Notification Processing

An international survey found that over 80% of IT professionals spend most of their day prioritizing and responding to cloud security alerts. Since many were false positives, the work didn’t even contribute meaningfully to their organizations’ security systems.

RPA in cybersecurity could help process these notifications much faster. It can categorize them and identify which should get priority. Once it finds the most time-sensitive or important ones, it can generate a report. On top of saving time, RPA also helps a business’s security team focus on critical security concerns.

8. Data Categorization

Organizations often store massive amounts of data. When factoring in human error, miscatagorization and filing mistakes become common. Manually searching through extensive storage systems would be a monumental task, which is why cybersecurity automation is valuable.

An RPA can continuously analyze multiple locations and determine if the information is in the correct place. It can validate, move or remove it entirely. Proper categorization helps protect sensitive data from unauthorized user access. Plus, it can help security professionals find what they’re looking for much faster.

The Usefulness of Cybersecurity Automation

RPA in cybersecurity has many helpful uses. It can do everything from notification processing to incident response. Professionals can use it to lighten their workloads and enhance their organizations’ security. It can be much easier to configure and maintain than other complex automation technology, making it an ideal choice.