NTT announce Cyber Threat Sensor AI for threat detection

CTS-AI is also a core element in NTT’s broader security services portfolio for enterprises, including managed detection and response (MDR), application security testing, and threat detection. During an initial promotional period, the service is free of charge for both new and existing NTT clients.

With limited security resources and one or multiple workloads in the cloud, organisations are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain a multi-layer security posture on their own. At the same time, organisations are increasingly moving toward cloud-based purchasing of IT capabilities, including cybersecurity, directly in marketplaces like AWS, bypassing traditional channels.

What sets CTS-AI apart from other AI-based and machine learning security solutions is its human-validated threat intelligence with detailed analysis by security experts at NTT. This global capability scans internet traffic and curates threat data from over 100 intelligence and 50 partner feeds. Threats are continuously validated to ensure accurate contextualisation and prioritisation and that CTS-AI is always up to date.

CTS-AI was first rolled out to affected enterprises at the time of the SolarWinds supply chain breach and was core to NTT’s mitigation offer at that critical time. NTT has continued to hone the application and expand the scope of capabilities since then.

CTS-AI is a network detection and response (NDR) solution developed to protect AWS applications and data directly in the cloud, without the need for dedicated hardware or cybersecurity experts. Over time, NTT plans to offer CTS-AI on other marketplaces as well.

CTS-AI is designed to be used by organisations that are looking for a simple, easy to deploy, lightweight detection capability to augment their existing cyber defense capability or have a limited capability today and don’t have the resources to deploy, manage and support a heavyweight monitoring and alerting capability.

Operation is extremely simple, and users can access CTS-AI features and receive alerts directly on their mobile devices. They can also view activity logs and reports through a mobile app or web interface and can create customised policies that define the type and frequency of alerts they want to receive, and the control actions they want performed.

MMC Hardmetal, an industrial client, deployed NTT’s cyber threat sensor for routine compromise assessment of its systems. According to MMC Hardmetal: “This tool picked up indicators that none of our other controls detected, giving us the real time capability to detect and remediate cyber threats at the first stage of an attack. It was very easy to implement and enabled us to identify areas of improvement for the security of our infrastructure.”

“With CTS-AI, companies of all sizes have an accessible, cloud-based means to monitor and respond to threats in their environment,” said Kazu Yozawa, CEO for the security division at NTT Ltd.

“We refer to it as “having a SOC in your pocket”. For organisations new to NTT, they can take immediate advantage of the innovation driven by our over $100m a year in cybersecurity R&D. For our existing clients, CTS-AI adds an additional user-friendly interface to the threat detection capabilities they already have with NTT.”

"The new offering, along with the upcoming roadmap for CTS-AI is exciting. The value proposition fits well with the broader market trend of cloud-native and cloud-delivered security control," said Cathy Huang, associate research director, IDC Asia/Pacific. "The new solution introduced by NTT is positioned to help organisations to secure applications, workloads and data in the cloud in an easy-to-use manner."