Waterloo, Ont.-based cybersecurity firm eSentire has launched Atlas Preempt, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered system that tests a company’s defences by running cybersecurity attack simulations.

Preempt is a replacement for periodic penetration tests, eSentire said in a release.

The solution, built into the Atlas Platform, replaces point-in-time assessments and reactive cybersecurity, the company added.

Cybersecurity attackers can operate at “machine speed and scale” with the most advanced AI models, moving at a pace exceeding quarterly assessments and severity scores built for humans, Dustin Hillard, eSentire's chief product and technology officer, said.

Preempt, he continued, closes that gap, “giving defenders a continuous attacker's-eye view of their own environment and turning vulnerability disclosures into validated, prioritized risk in hours, not weeks.”

eSentire’s Atlas Preempt

Preempt falls under the category of preemptive cybersecurity, the act of finding possible weaknesses and patching them before they become a problem. AI and machine learning is often built into preemptive cybersecurity to predict and detect possible threats.

For example, Preempt scans for vulnerabilities which are fed directly into AI-powered penetration testing and findings prioritization, informs detection tactics, and finds the attack surface to expand the depth of exposures.

Additionally, the product unearths forgotten assets which could pose a security threat and provides an audit trail for offensive actions that can be prepared for boards, regulators and insurers.

Preempt in action

To showcase Atlas Preempt's capabilities, eSentire included a case study of its use by a U.S electronic medical record provider.

The technology found the authorization controls were unknowingly disabled across all endpoints, leaving over 20 million patient records exposed to unauthenticated callers. The records included social security numbers, prescriptions, dates of birth and addresses.

eSentire validated and delivered the finding to the client, plus a remediation plan to contain the vulnerabilities. The electronic medical record provider was able to close the potential security breach before it was exploited.

While much of the Atlas Platform is automated, it only investigates and recommends solutions, eSentire said. A human cybersecurity analyst must review and approve its actions first. The same principle applies to Preempt, which is under human oversight that boards, regulators and insurers require, Hillard said.

Solutions like are Atlas Preempt expected to be the future of cybersecurity, according to business research firm Gartner. A report from Gartner forecasts preemptive cybersecurity solutions to account for half of IT security spending by 2030, up from less than five per cent in 2024.

About eSentire

Founded in 2001 to address threats for hedge funds, eSentire services over 2,000 organizations around the world across industries such as manufacturing, finance and retail, and governments.

Its flagship product is Atlas, a controlled autonomy security operations platform. The cybersecurity offering detects threats, contains and investigates the security gaps, and checks for weaknesses with penetrative testing.

eSentire has offices in the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland. In 2017, private equity firm Warburg Pincus made an investment in eSentire and remains its largest shareholder. Five years later, eSentire raised US$325 million in funding through a binding agreement with Georgian and then-Caisse de dépot et placement du Québec, now La Caisse.