Adrian Johnson
TLDR:
- Google has open-sourced its AI-powered tool Magika to aid in cybersecurity.
- Magika uses artificial intelligence to detect file types with an average precision level of over 99%.
Google has recently made headlines by open-sourcing its AI-powered tool, Magika, to help bolster the cybersecurity ecosystem. Magika is capable of accurately detecting commonly used file types such as PNG, JPG, PDF, and APK using the power of artificial intelligence. Google claims that Magika surpasses traditional file identification methods with an average precision level of over 99%. This tool has been used internally by Google with services like Gmail, Drive, and Safe Browsing to forward files to security and content policy scanners.
In terms of performance, Magika has been found to outperform other tools with a 20% increase in the average F1 score when compared in a 1 million files benchmark with over 100 file types. The open-sourcing of Magika opens up opportunities for security-focused services and products to utilize it in enhancing their cybersecurity measures.
Google has already started integrating Magika into VirusTotal, the online service they acquired in 2012 for analyzing suspicious files and URLs. This integration aims to strengthen VirusTotal’s existing Code Insight functionality. Users interested in trying out Magika can access a demo on the official website or install it as a Python package to run locally or on a server. Google has also released an npm package for Magika, indicating plans to support Linux as well.
The release of Magika by Google has sparked discussions around the cybersecurity community, with some praising the move and others questioning the implications. Overall, the open-sourcing of Magika is seen as a positive step towards advancing cybersecurity measures using AI technology.
