In September 2023, Trident Search welcomed expert guests to the Cyber Security Innovation Forum to tackle one of the most complex and fast-evolving challenges in the industry: the exponential growth of artificial intelligence (AI).
Although it’s claimed that 64% of businesses have already implemented AI for security capabilities, there is still a lot of confusion over what AI is, how we’re using it and how we might be affected by AI-enhanced cyber attacks.
To be clear, AI as we fear it is not a reality yet. We’re far from a world populated by self-aware robots or Terminator-style assassins. At present, without the capacity to make decisions or regulate itself, AI is not much more than Machine Learning (ML)
and cannot be trusted to run without human involvement. So much of the hype around AI is simply marketing noise, as businesses peddling AI solutions scramble for market share. It’s a dangerous ‘smoke and mirrors’ situation that will lead to many companies over-investing in ‘AI to fight AI’ products at the expense of other defensive tech, leaving you more vulnerable to threat actors.
The situation is compounded by the lack of, or limited awareness of, regulation to control AI development. Although some nations have tried to limit usage, such as the banning of ChatGPT in Italy, business-specific restrictions are far behind where they need to
be.
Yet there’s so much evidence that the biggest risk to us from AI is actually that individuals are unwittingly releasing sensitive data into open source systems; leaving the door wide open for cyber criminals to steal it. With the lack of regulation, understanding and
awareness of risk, there’s a real threat that if we don’t take this into our own hands now, we won’t be able to protect ourselves and our businesses. This isn’t a hare and tortoise situation; the speed this technology is developing means we have to get ahead of it now or our cyber defences won’t be able to keep pace in future. The next stage of AI development will be the one to really test us, and if you don’t have the foundations in place you’ll be overwhelmed when we get there.
It's essential that all leaders take responsibility for educating themselves and their employees on how to use AI to its full potential whilst keeping themselves secure. It feels like we‘re all fumbling in the dark right now, with no clear structure for managing the threats and opportunities AI poses for our sector. This report is therefore your framework for change - helping you to navigate the AI landscape and futureproof your business.
