What is machine learning (ML) in security?

Machine learning is a branch of AI in which models learn patterns from data rather than following hard-coded rules. In security it powers malware detection, behavioral analysis, and anomaly detection, allowing tools to generalize to threats they have not seen before.

The quality of ML detection depends on what it analyzes. Many tools apply ML to metadata or behavior — inferring from the outside — whereas Elastio’s ensemble of models inspects inside the file, producing deterministic, low-false-positive detection rather than statistical guesses.

Last updated May 27, 2026