Symantec’s Chris Townsend: Federal Gov’t Needs AI, Machine Learning to Stay Head of Cyber Threats

Chris Townsend, vice president of federal at Symantec, has said federal agencies should adopt machine learning, artificial intelligence, automation technologies and other novel platforms to protect networks from evolving cyber threats.

Townsend wrote in an article published Monday on FedTech Magazine that such technologies could help address some visibility gaps associated with overly complicated platforms.

He noted that AI could help agencies discover new cyber threats by finding and tracking data for patterns that escape detection by human analysts.

Another tool he believes could help the federal government assess threats is the learning-based log processing technology.

“This is a multilayered approach to threat assessment, based on a file’s static attributes, dynamic behaviors and its relationships with other files,” he said of learning-based log processing.