AUTONOMOUS CYBER DEFENSE: INTELLIGENT THREAT DETECTION, RESPONSE, AND RECOVERY IN DYNAMIC NETWORK ENVIRONMENTS

Abstract

The study focused on autonomous cyber defense being adopted as an umbrella of smart threat detection, intelligent incident response, and resilient recovery in evolving network settings. A quantitative research design was adopted in the study to explore the relationship between Intelligent Threat Detection (ITD), Automated Incident Response (AIR), Adaptive Recovery (AR), and Autonomous Cyber Defense (ACD). A total of 300 respondents completed a structured questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale to provide the data for this study, comprising cybersecurity professionals and IT practitioners. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression. The results showed that the Intelligent Threat Detection had a significant and positive effect on the Autonomous Cyber Defense (β = 0.42, p < .001). Additionally, Automated Incident Response had a strong positive correlation with Autonomous Cyber Defense (β = 0.31, p < .001) and Adaptive Recovery had a strong positive correlation with Autonomous Cyber Defense (β = 0.27, p < .001). The overall regression model was statistically significant, R² = 0.584 (Adjusted R² = 0.580, F(3, 296) = 138.48, p < .001). The results pointed to the need for incorporating intelligent detection, intelligent response, and intelligent recovery in an autonomous cybersecurity architecture. The study enhanced the understanding of the importance of synchronized defense in maintaining ongoing threat management, quick response, network resiliency and adaptation to evolving network environments.