Overview

Darktrace’s Enterprise Immune System is inspired by the biological principles of the human immune system, which takes for granted that compromise is inevitable, and deals with this situation by being able to learn ‘self’ and proactively detect potential viruses or bacteria, and thereby ward off illness. Thanks to major advancements in the power of machine learning and mathematics, Darktrace has built a system that is capable of learning ‘self’ for organizations, and dynamically detect potential threats as they emerge – and while there is still time for the organization to respond and defend themselves.
The Enterprise Immune System works by observing large volumes of data within networks, and ‘learning’ the pattern of life for every device and individual user of the organization, using advanced mathematical models and algorithms, in an adaptive manner. It also employs powerful correlation techniques to classify and cross-reference these models, in order to establish a highly accurate understanding of what constitutes ‘normal’ or ‘abnormal’ at any one time.
In achieving this understanding of an organization’s ‘self’, Darktrace can thereby spot new, emerging behaviors that fall outside this pattern of normality, which may be indicative of serious threat or an in-progress attack. Drawing on probabilistic Bayesian mathematics, the Enterprise Immune System constantly calculates probabilities based on evolving evidence. This means that threats or attackers that have not previously been identified can still be detected – including insider threat, which is notoriously difficult to identify, because it is perpetuated by supposedly trusted users.
Detecting mathematical anomalies in real time, Darktrace issues alerts to organizations about genuinely suspicious incidents that are occurring on their networks, allowing them to take proactive measures to mitigate the risk. The ability to spot not only known malicious software, but also completely novel and evolving attackers helps organizations defend against the most sophisticated and stealthy threats.