IBM and SparkCognition Tap the Power of Watson to Help ExamSoft Implement Next Generation Security Analytics

Dallas, TX and Armonk, NY (PRWEB) October 08, 2014

SparkCognition, the world's first Cognitive Security Analytics company, and IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced today that clients, including ExamSoft Worldwide, are tapping the power of Watson to transform how businesses make use of unstructured data to enhance Security Analytics.

Cloud application security is a growing challenge compounded by increasingly sophisticated attack patterns and underlying configuration complexity in the assets and infrastructure being protected. Traditional approaches implement simplistic analyses, which can lead to false positives and also lack in-context information to help a security professional address issues quickly. Fueled by IBM Watson technology via the cloud, SparkCognition's Cognitive Security Insights (CSI) service discovers unfolding threats and provides users with specific information they need to know about remediation and defense mechanisms. All of this knowledge is delivered in context, at the right time, to the right person.

SparkCognition's CSI offering works by collecting massive amounts of security data and applying patent-pending machine learning and AI algorithms to find trends, patterns and anomalies. These are identified, researched using a variety of techniques in order to reduce false positives, and finally used to generate immediately applicable security configuration, including web server policies, remote login policies and more. As attacks unfold on the open internet, additional Insights are developed and used to constantly adapt and improve policies and rules.

SparkCognition has been collaborating with IBM to train Watson on a security-focused corpus that includes product manuals, threat research, configuration best-practices and similar relevant content. All of this knowledge is available to end-users in-context, or as during the course of a natural language dialogue with the CSI system.

Introduction to CSI (Video)

SparkCognition comment: We want to include two videos in the release - one above, one below

"SparkCognition's CSI offering delivers actionable data and great insight into the threat dynamics with which we contend and we are excited to be at the forefront of Cognitive platform adoption. In an environment where security needs continue to evolve, SparkCognition enables us to quickly adapt and respond with a truly innovative framework," said Mark Haney, Chief Technology Officer, ExamSoft Worldwide.

How Watson Integrates with CSI (video)

<org value="NYSE:IBM" idsrc="xmltag.org">IBM also announced today accelerated adoption of Watson's cognitive capabilities globally. Today's news reinforces IBM's strategy to fuel an ecosystem of innovators who will help make cognitive the new standard of computing.

"IBM is receiving an outpouring of interest from partners in Watson's cognitive capabilities and supporting industry-changing use cases around the globe," said Stephen Gold, Vice President, IBM Watson Group. "We are thrilled to be working with some of the industries best and brightest entrepreneurs and established organizations."

Organizations that are interested in collaborating with IBM to develop Watson-powered applications can visit http://www.ibm.com/watsonecosystem to learn more.

IBM Watson: Pioneering a New Era of Computing
IBM Watson represents a new era of computing, in which apps and systems interact with human users more naturally, augment our knowledge with Big Data insights, and learn to improve how they assist us.

Fueled by innovation from a mission to transform industries and professions, Watson is uniquely positioned at the forefront of the new era of computing, evidenced by an unmatched demonstration of what cognitive systems can bring to transform decision-making. IBM is delivering a range of cloud-based products and services to clients in industries such as banking, healthcare, insurance, retail and education.

In January, 2014, IBM launched the IBM Watson Group, a new business unit dedicated to the development and commercialization of cloud-delivered cognitive advisors. The move signifies a strategic shift by IBM to accelerate into the marketplace a new class of software, services and apps that think, improve by learning, and discover insights from massive amounts of Big Data.

IBM is investing more than $1 billion into the Watson Group, focusing on research, development and bringing cloud-delivered cognitive applications and services to market. This includes $100 million earmarked for direct investment to support IBM's ecosystem of start-ups and businesses building cognitive apps made with Watson. Currently more than 3,300 organizations and entrepreneurial individuals have shared their ideas for creating cognitive apps that redefine how businesses and consumers make decisions.

For more information on IBM Watson, please visit: http://www.ibmwatson.com.

For more insights on this story and more, visit the IBM Watson press kit.

To join the social discussion about Watson, include the hashtag #ibmwatson. Follow Watson on Facebook and see Watson on YouTube and Flickr.

About SparkCognition, Inc.
SparkCognition, Inc. is the world's first Cognitive Security Analytics company. The company's groundbreaking MindSpark platform and Cognitive Fingerprinting technology model physical and virtual assets, continuously learn from data, and derive intelligent insights to secure and protect assets round the clock. The company's Cognitive Security Insights service was declared winner of IBM's Innovate App 2014 competition. SparkCognition is based in Austin, Texas and has secured investment from Michael Dell's private investment firm, MSD Capital, L.P., T. B. Pickens III, CEO of Astrotech (NASDAQ: ASTC) and California-based venture firm, The Entrepreneurs' Fund (TEF). For more information on the company, its technology and team, please visit http://www.sparkcognition.com

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