Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2024. Read them in this 16th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
Generative AI Will Usher in a New Era of Compliance and Data Leak Risks
By
Dmitry Dontov, CEO, Spin.AI
Generative AI just might be
one of the most talked about technologies in recent years due to its potential
for increasing innovation and efficiency across a wide variety of industries.
But as the old superhero saying goes: with great power comes great responsibility-and
risk. As businesses and individuals rush to adopt these tools, they often
overlook the potential hazards, unwittingly exposing themselves to a spectrum
of compliance and data leak risks.
With that in mind, I expect
generative AI tools will lead to regulatory compliance risks, PII data leaks,
privacy violations, fake AI apps and extensions, phishing and social
engineering, intellectual property theft, automated content generation for cyber
attacks, security of trained models, etc.
As we look at it today,
regulations for generative AI tools are still nascent. As a result, we will
likely see more cases of new types of data leaks due to compliance breaches and
fake AI tools that steal business, PII, and personal data and that can be used
as a part of a new wave of zero-day attacks.
Obviously, this will
complicate regulatory compliance as well. With rules around data protection and
privacy (GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA) mandating the way in which companies handle
customer data, generative AI, while a boon in data processing, could
inadvertently contravene these laws if not monitored properly. The tools'
ability to synthesize and potentially disclose personal information poses a
threat not just to privacy but to potential legal repercussions and loss of
consumer trust as well.
But privacy violations are
just the tip of the iceberg. The burgeoning market of AI tools has spawned a slew
of fake applications. These often masquerade as legitimate software, luring
users with the promise of cutting-edge technology, only to phish for sensitive
information. The prevalence of such deceptive practices was echoed in our Browser Extension
Risk Report, which highlighted a worrying statistic: over half of all
browser extensions installed pose a high risk, including those that could be
fronts for harvesting business or personal data.
Furthermore, the risks extend
to intellectual property theft. AI's ability to replicate and enhance content
could be weaponized to infringe on copyrights and trademarks. This would result
in a significant uptick in cases where proprietary business information is
being replicated and used without consent.
The content generation
capabilities of AI also pose a stark threat to cybersecurity. Phishing and
social engineering tactics are likely to become more sophisticated enabling
cybercriminals to create highly believable fake communications. These could be
used to trick individuals and employees into divulging confidential information
or granting access to secure systems. Moreover, as AI models become more
advanced, the security of the trained models themselves becomes a concern. If a
malicious actor gains access to the model, they could potentially reverse
engineer it, uncovering sensitive data used in the training process.
Thankfully, many of these
issues have not yet come to pass, giving companies time to establish robust
risk assessment frameworks to help identify and mitigate the potential
vulnerabilities AI tools could exploit. Regular monitoring and auditing of AI
systems will be crucial to ensure that they function within legal and ethical
boundaries and to detect any signs of misuse or data leakage promptly. Before
implementing a GenAI tool at your company, you must get full visibility of the
data processing architecture to ensure it meets local regulations, best
security practices, and compliance.
With adequate user education
stakeholders at every level can prepare themselves to understand the risks
associated with generative AI and how to use these tools safely.
We stand on the cusp of an AI
revolution, and so, we must tread carefully. The potential for innovation is
enormous, but so is the potential for harm. The rapid adoption of generative AI
tools necessitates a proactive stance on risk management. By anticipating and
preparing for the associated compliance and data leak risks, we can harness the
power of AI without falling prey to its perils. It's a delicate balancing act,
but one that is critical for the secure and ethical advancement of technology
in our society.
##
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dmitry Dontov is a serial entrepreneur and founder and
CEO of Spin.AI. Dmitry's innovative thinking led to the development of two
patented security solutions as well as strategic partnerships with tech giants
like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, providing security solutions to
organizations around the globe.