THOR AI: Reducing Cyber Risk for At-Risk Businesses

‍Additional insight on VikingCloud’s first-of-its-kind, patent-pending, generative AI-powered cybersecurity chatbot.

“THOR AI is designed to provide real-time and 24/7/365 accessible cybersecurity insight to clients who can’t afford or don’t have access to enough internal cybersecurity expertise to better protect them from online threats.  It’s like getting every user an always-on team of cyber analysts who know their business – quickly and at no extra cost.”

VikingCloud recently announced THOR AI (Threat Hunting and Orchestrated Response), a first-of-its-kind generative AI-powered cybersecurity chatbot. The new solution, which is backed by patent-pending technology, provides custom threat detection and expert advice that assists companies of all sizes find more vulnerabilities faster - before they become disruptive threats to their business.  

Click here to read the full release.

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Why invest in and develop THOR AI?  

Because businesses are at risk.  

The online threat environment has never been more relentless or complex, and businesses, both large and small, are unprepared.  Either they are too small and can’t afford to hire dedicated cybersecurity expertise, or they have the resources, but are impacted by the global shortage of cybersecurity talent and can’t find and hire who they need, when they need them.  Now.  

In a timely December 2023 article in Infosecurity Magazine, Tara Wisniewski, EVP, Advocacy, Global Markets and Member Engagement at ISC2, explained: “The threat landscape is tougher than it’s ever been. We found that 75% of cyber professionals are finding the current threat landscape to be the most challenging it’s been in the past five years.  That’s inevitably going to increase the need for skilled cybersecurity professionals.”

The demand for talent is there – but not the supply.  According to CSO Online, in 2023, 71% of security pros say their organization has been impacted by the global cybersecurity skills shortage – up from 57% in 2021.  

And for small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) who can’t justify the expense of a cybersecurity hire, they are the most at risk – and the most unprepared: SMBs are the #1 target of all data breaches in 43% of all incidents, yet 63% know that they don’t have the adequate internal cybersecurity resources to deter or respond to online threats.

Our VikingCloud mission is Business Uninterrupted.  That means our people and technology are focused on helping our customers stop threats before they impact their day-to-day business.  

And that’s why we made the investment to transform how businesses access better cybersecurity insights more quickly – regardless of their scale or internal technology expertise.  

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Unique Data– Better Insights – Personalized Delivery

VikingCloud is in a unique position to develop and deliver THOR AI and provide enhanced and custom threat detection because we are the only company to use patent-pending algorithms based on both cybersecurity telemetry and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) insights.  PCI DSS is a set of global requirements intended to ensure that all companies that process, store, or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment.

That means THOR AI is designed to deliver better insight into our customers’ cybersecurity risk based on their unique online cyber and compliance security environments – as well as the benchmarks made possible by being part of the 4.5 million strong global VikingCloud user community in more than 70 countries.  

Our developers and solution experts also understand that VikingCloud serves a wide range of businesses – from single store-front businesses to multi-location franchise operations, to global, Fortune 100 corporations.  Each customer has a different level of cybersecurity expertise – from non-existent to CISO-level capabilities.  That means we need to ensure every user can ask questions and query THOR AI using language that makes sense to them – and receive insights and recommendations in a language they can understand – to take action.

That’s why THOR AI includes recently filed patent-pending, persona-based communications automation. THOR AI will customize the level of detail, complexity, and vocabulary based on proprietary models designed to accurately identify the level of cybersecurity expertise. Users of any cybersecurity skill level simply ask questions and THOR AI responds with up-to-the minute insight on their business, including recommendations for follow up queries, best-practice risk mitigation suggestions, and direction on how to get additional information and assistance from VikingCloud expert advisors.  

Also– click here to check out our THOR AI video demo highlighting the chatbot’s unique persona-based personalization, customizing the level of answer detail, complexity, and vocabulary used in responses and recommendations.

THOR AI is designed to provide real time and 24/7/365 accessible cybersecurity insight to clients who can’t afford or don’t have access to enough internal cybersecurity expertise to better protect them from online threats. It’s like getting every user an always-on team of cyber analysts who know their business – quickly and at no extra cost.

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The God of Thunder – Safeguarding the World – and Our Clients

THOR AI was also named to reflect both what it is designed to do (Threat Hunting and Orchestrated Response) and the attributes of its namesake Thor – a god revered by the Vikings.  So, as a company named VikingCloud, it is only natural that we selected a solution name that delivers on the best of the god of thunder: Trusted protection and dedicated to safeguarding the world through strength and innovation. That’s Thor and That’s THOR AI.  (I’ve also been informed that our Chief Marketing Officer will not be going overboard on Viking-themed branding – but we couldn’t resist this one time!)  

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Wrapping Up: The VikingCloud Difference

More importantly, THOR AI is just one tool our customers have to improve their cybersecurity posture; access to expert advisors and managed security and technology-based solutions (Threat Detection & Response, Vulnerability Scanning, Penetration Testing, Endpoint and Network Security – and more) remain critical to helping them resolve identified threats – and minimizing the impact to cyber incidents they may experience.

VikingCloud is one of only a few global companies that can both identify (the “TH” or Threat Hunting of THOR AI) and resolve (the “OR” or Orchestrated Response of THOR AI) cybersecurity risk – at scale.  And we are the only company that can provide enhanced insights because we are the only company that integrates both cybersecurity and PCI compliance data.

And that means our customers can focus on growing their business – while VikingCloud focuses on their cyber defense – keeping their Business Uninterrupted.  

We look forward to THOR AI’s official launch in late Q4/Q1 2025.  This is the first of many investments in AI development and customer solutions that we’ll be announcing this year.  Much more to come.