AI Access Control facilitate a unified and secure access point to content sources across the enterprise, enabling authorization and access.
AI Access Control: The Key to Secure and Scalable Enterprise AI Solutions

AI Access Control,Enterprise AI,GenAI,Zero Trust Security,Access Management

ByMatt
April 22, 2024

Summary
Successful Enterprise AI implementations, such as those by Virgin Pulse and Gilead Sciences, showcase its ability to enhance internal search functionality, streamline processes, and improve efficiency. However, challenges like authorization issues, permission awareness and data overexposure persist, which become a barrier in its implementation. AI Access Control emerges as a solution to overcome these implementation barriers as it facilitates secure and managed access to diverse data, essential for IT and Security teams.
What is Enterprise AI?
Enterprise AI is the integration of AI-driven assistants like Amazon Q from AWS, Google’s Vertex AI or Microsoft’s Azure AI, with an organization’s database, information systems, and workflows. It helps employees, vendors and third parties to gain the capability to craft detailed, organization specific queries tailored to their needs and receive customized responses, filtered to display only the data they’re cleared to access.

Enterprise AI facilitates an environment where company information flows freely yet securely, ensuring that the right insights reach the right people at the right time. It is skilled in solving for challenges unique to any enterprise.
Enterprise AI success stories from leading companies

Virgin Pulse: Enterprise AI, through Amazon Q and Amazon Bedrock, has helped Virgin Pulse by unifying search functions across the worldwide employee base and improved search results within the organization, offering collaboration across dispersed locations and a personalized and secure experience for employees.
Gilead Sciences: For Gilead, Enterprise AI enabled search of important documents, knowledge, and data in one centralized location which helped in quicker insight generation and analysis of vast data sets across the organization, it simplified connecting to data sources, automating complex tasks, and delivering relevant insights efficiently.
Wunderkid: Wunderkid possesses vast amounts of proprietary data, and faced challenges in navigating through multiple data ‘silos’ to extract relevant answers and transform them into swift, actionable insights. Implementing Enterprise AI as a top layer across different content and data repositories has significantly enhanced efficiency for their customer success and marketing teams.

What are the challenges with Enterprise AI implementation?

Authorization:  Integration with SAML 2.0–supported identity providers for authorization in Enterprise AI systems presents challenges such as compatibility issues, complex configurations, security concerns, and the need for ongoing maintenance and support to ensure a secure and efficient connection.
Permission Awareness: Enterprise AI faces permission awareness challenges due to the intricate nature of enterprise data and permissions, requiring careful system design and maintenance to manage access controls, data ownership, compliance, and scalability effectively.
Overexposure: Despite having permission awareness mechanisms, Enterprise AI systems risk data overexposure through misconfigurations, human errors, and insufficient monitoring, necessitating robust processes like regular audits and employee training to safeguard data.

What is the need for AI Access Controls?
The management of access to a vast and diverse array of information ranging from documents and emails to multimedia content like images and audio/video files poses a significant challenge for IT and Security teams within enterprises. Given the sheer volume of data, in various formats and stored across multiple locations, streamlining access while ensuring security is becoming increasingly burdensome.

In response to these challenges, AI Access Control emerges as a solution, enhancing the way enterprises interact with applications, communications, and documents directly within their workflows. AI Access Control simplifies the integration and accessibility of both structured and unstructured data. This technology facilitates a unified access point to content sources across the enterprise, enabling the authorization, access, permissions and analysis of data, whether it’s housed on-site or in the cloud.
Framework for a successful Enterprise AI implementation via AI Access Controls

Streamlined Integration and Identity Management

Implement standardized protocols like SAML 2.0, OAuth, and OpenID Connect, and integrate with specialized third-party vendors for seamless identity and access management solutions.

Advanced Permission Management

Implement advanced, dynamic access control systems with a granular permissions framework for real-time, precise management of roles, permissions, and policies, offering precise adjustments based on specific roles, data types, and operational contexts, ensuring fine-grained security through meticulous management of access permissions.

Enhanced Security Measures

Implement comprehensive data management strategies that include administrative controls that allow for the blocking of topics and the filtering of content based on keywords, organization of data assets by grouping and cataloging, visibility with least privilege access, rigorous risk and compliance management, and track the location of data through IP addresses and file paths to enhance data security and align with organizational policies.

By integrating these steps, organizations can build a more secure, efficient, and responsive AI Access Control system, ensuring that access to sensitive information is properly managed and protected against emerging threats.

Lumeus.ai offers Zero Trust Security for AI, enabling IT Security to efficiently manage ShadowAI, control AI access, and enforce AI Guardrails. It integrates seamlessly with existing security infrastructures, supporting identity platforms like Okta, Google, Active Directory, and network security platforms from Palo Alto, ZScaler, Fortinet, enabling a smooth deployment.

If you’re interested in a deeper discussion or even in contributing to refining this perspective, feel free to reach out to us.

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AI Guardrails: Securing the Future of Generative AI

AI Guardrails,Data Protection,GenAI,Zero Trust Security
ByAditya SoniApril 3, 2024
Summary

Generative AI has seen remarkable progress, transforming every industry. However, its integration comes with challenges and risks. Despite efforts to establish safeguards against these challenges, studies indicate that current measures may not fully prevent organizations against risks including issues related to privacy, bias, and ethics. The need for AI Guardrails is further underscored by incidents of inappropriate AI behavior and misinformation prompting organizations and government to emphasize robust AI governance.

What are AI Guardrails?

Gartner’s survey underscores Generative AI as a primary emerging risk, appearing in its top 10 for first time, the rapid adoption of Generative AI  (GenAI)  and Large Language Models (LLMs) raises privacy issues, with incidents of unintentional rule violations, accidental sharing of proprietary information, and unintended disclosure of confidential data for the sake of productivity.
AI Guardrails, or safeguards, refer to a set of policies, practices, and technologies designed to ensure the safe, ethical, and responsible use of GenAI and LLMs, within an organization. These measures are implemented to address and mitigate the risks associated with AI technologies, including privacy breaches, inherent biases, inaccuracies, and ethical concerns.
What are the types of AI Guardrails?

AI Guardrails can be categorized into several types, each designed to mitigate specific risks associated with the deployment and use of AI technologies. Here are some of the primary types:

Ethical Guardrails: Set limits to prevent biased or harmful outputs, ensuring GenAI output adheres to societal and moral standards.
Compliance Guardrails: Ensure outputs comply with legal standards, crucial in sectors like healthcare, finance, and law, focusing on data protection and privacy.
Contextual Guardrails: Adjust GenAI to produce content appropriate for specific situations, avoiding potentially inappropriate but legal outputs.
Security Guardrails: Protect against security risks, preventing misuse that could lead to data breaches or spread of misinformation.
Adaptive Guardrails: Enable guardrails to evolve, maintaining ethical and legal integrity as models learn and adapt over time.

Are the current AI Guardrails sturdy enough?

According to an article in The New York Times, before the release of the AI chatbot ChatGPT, OpenAI, put in place digital precautions to prevent the creation of hate speech and disinformation by the system. Google followed a similar approach with its own Bard chatbot.
However, a study conducted by researchers from Princeton, Virginia Tech, Stanford, and IBM indicates that these safeguards may not be as robust as AI organizations believe.
This research underscores the growing concern that, despite efforts by companies to mitigate AI misuse, potential for generating harmful content remains. The complexity inherent in the technology driving these advanced chatbots means that as their functionalities expand, controlling their actions becomes increasingly challenging.
Important questions emerge for IT/Security teams:

How can the accuracy of the outputs be confirmed?
What steps are taken to ensure outputs are legally compliant?
How can we guarantee the system’s outputs are safe for users?
What measures are in place to reduce bias?

Why do we need AI Guardrails?

Upon the release of ChatGPT-3.5 by OpenAI in November 2022, there was significant public interest. Microsoft’s announcement in February 2023 about integrating similar AI functionality into Bing resulted in over 1 million people signing up to test it within two days and not long after, as testers began to use the GenAI models, strange results started showing up, including an incident where Bing, revealing a persona named Sydney, expressed disturbing thoughts and attempted to disrupt a journalist’s marriage.
Concurrently, Google unveiled its GenAI model, Bard, which mistakenly provided incorrect information during a demonstration, leading to a significant financial loss for Google’s parent company, Alphabet, due to a drop in share price. 
During a session titled “The Transformative Power of Artificial Intelligence” at a NACo Legislative Conference, panelists emphasized that artificial intelligence (AI) is “captivating, disruptive, and transformative,” representing a pivotal tool for county-level progress. However, they stressed the importance of intergovernmental cooperation in establishing safeguards to mitigate AI’s risks.
In parallel, the Biden administration has issued new guidelines for federal agencies on appropriate AI usage. This move marks a significant effort towards safeguarding GenAI.
Additionally, Meta has recently committed to enhancing AI Guardrails, aligning with global initiatives by governments to create a robust regulatory framework for GenAI. This effort seeks not only to set boundaries for AI’s application but also to lay the groundwork for its trusted integration into society.

 
In the absence of appropriate safeguards, GenAI poses several risks, including:

Data Privacy: Businesses hold sensitive information that necessitates robust guardrails to avert misuse by AI.
Regulatory Compliance: With stringent legal frameworks in place, ensuring that AI complies with both local and global regulations is paramount.
Reputation Management: Inaccuracies or ethical missteps in AI applications can tarnish a company’s image. Implementing guardrails helps mitigate such risks.
Ethical Integrity: Public concern around AI underscores the need for guardrails that confine AI’s application to contexts that align with human ethical standards.

 
Lumeus.ai offers Zero Trust Security for AI, enabling IT Security to efficiently manage ShadowAI, control AI access, and enforce AI Guardrails. It integrates seamlessly with existing security infrastructures, supporting identity platforms like Okta, Google, Active Directory, and network security platforms from Palo Alto, ZScaler, Fortinet, enabling a smooth deployment.
 
If you’re interested in a deeper discussion or even in contributing to refining this perspective, feel free to reach out to us.

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The combination of GenAI with the multiple components in the software supply chain introduces risks which need to be addressed to avoid losses

Software Supply Chain Risks in Generative AI

Software Supply Chain,AI Firewall,GenAI,Zero Trust Security,Top 5 LLM Security Risks

ByMatt
March 4, 2024

Summary
 

Gartner report forecasts that by 2025, about half of all organizations will experience a software supply chain attack, highlighted by OpenAI’s temporary shutdown of ChatGPT due to a ‘Redis’ library vulnerability, risking user data exposure.
The software supply chain poses risks to Generative AI (GenAI) due to inherited vulnerabilities, third-party dependencies, an expanded attack surface, the potential for compromised data and code, and regulatory compliance challenges, all of which can significantly impact the security and integrity of GenAI projects..
CISOs See Software Supply Chain Security as Bigger Blind Spot Than GenAI

Why OpenAI disabled ChatGPT?
 

Today’s software development heavily relies on third-party codes, libraries, and increasingly, Generative AI (GenAI), making it possible to build up to 90% of an app without starting from scratch. This method streamlines app creation and saves time but also raises security risks. A Gartner report predicts that by 2025, nearly half of all organizations will face an attack on their software supply chain, a threat growing in frequency and complexity.

On March 20th, OpenAI briefly disabled ChatGPT due to a vulnerability in the ‘Redis’ open-source library, affecting the software supply chain. This issue led to a breach exposing user data like chat history titles, names, email and payment addresses, credit card types, and the last four digits of card numbers.

How is Software supply chain a risk for GenAI?
 

Threat to Software Supply Chain poses a risk to GenAI due to:

Inherited Vulnerabilities: Generative AI (GenAI) systems are prone to the same security weaknesses as traditional software, due to shared supply chain components and dependencies.
Third-Party Dependencies: GenAI systems’ reliance on external software components introduces vulnerabilities from the broader software supply chain into GenAI projects.
Expanded Attack Surface: The incorporation of numerous third-party components in GenAI systems enlarges the attack surface, making it more challenging to secure against breaches originating from the supply chain.
Compromised Data and Code: If any part of the supply chain is compromised, whether through malicious code in libraries or tainted datasets, it directly affects the integrity and functionality of GenAI applications.
Regulatory Compliance: The software supply chain’s complexity, including compliance with legal standards for data protection, impacts GenAI projects that use these components, making them susceptible to regulatory risks.

What are some common supply chain attacks?
 

Cycode’s inaugural 2024 State of ASPM report reveals significant AppSec challenges: 78% of CISOs find current attack surfaces unmanageable, 90% see a need for better security-development team collaboration, and 77% view software supply chain security as a more critical blind spot than Gen AI or open source issues.

Browser-based Attacks: Run harmful code in users’ browsers, targeting JavaScript libraries or extensions, and can steal sensitive information stored in the browser.
Software Attacks: Disguise malware within software updates, as seen in the SolarWinds incident, enabling automatic download and infection of devices.
Open-source Attacks: Exploit vulnerabilities in open-source packages, potentially allowing attackers to modify code or embed malware to gain access to systems.
JavaScript Attacks: Take advantage of vulnerabilities in JavaScript, or insert malicious scripts into webpages that execute upon loading.
Magecart Attacks: Use malicious JavaScript to steal credit card details from online checkout forms through “formjacking.”
Watering Hole Attacks: Target websites frequented by many users to exploit vulnerabilities and distribute malware to visitors.
Cryptojacking: Hijack computational resources for cryptocurrency mining through malicious website code, open-source scripts, or phishing links.

Lumeus.ai offers Zero Trust Security for AI, enabling IT Security to efficiently manage ShadowAI, control AI access, and enforce AI guardrails. It integrates seamlessly with existing security infrastructures, supporting identity platforms like Okta, Google, Active Directory, and network security platforms from Palo Alto, ZScaler, Fortinet, enabling a smooth deployment.

If you’re interested in a deeper discussion or even in contributing to refining this perspective, feel free to reach out to us.

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Intellectual property such as sensitive company information stands at a risk of loss when GenAI is adopted within organizations.

Intellectual Property Meets GenAI in the Battle for
Ownership

IP Protection,AI Firewall,GenAI,Source Code,Top 5 LLM Security Risks

ByAditya Soni
March 1, 2024

Summary
 

GitHub faced a lawsuit for training Copilot on open-source code without respecting licensing terms, and Samsung banned AI tools after employees’ use led to potential data breaches, underscoring the pressing IP and privacy issues with generative AI use.
Even with Intellectual property laws in place, IP and security emerge as top concerns for Fortune 500 companies using generative AI.
Companies are losing sight of IP protection as they prioritize rapid innovation and market expansion over the meticulous management of their intellectual assets, risking the dilution of their most valuable assets in the process.

What do we learn from Google, GitHub and Samsung about Intellectual Property rights?
 

The GitHub case isn’t the first-time technology and IP have crashed into each other. Google successfully defended itself against a lawsuit by arguing that transformative use allowed for the scraping of text from books to create its search engine.

The first Open Source Copyright Lawsuit challenged GitHub copilot

According to the pursuers, by training their AI systems on public repositories the defendants have violated the rights of many developers who posted code under different open-source licenses that require attribution, including the MIT, GPL, and Apache licenses.

Samsung had banned usage of AI tools

Samsung employees, in an effort to address work-related challenges, inputted sensitive company data into ChatGPT, including proprietary source codes and confidential meeting transcripts. Such actions were taken to leverage the AI’s capabilities for troubleshooting and optimizing work processes but inadvertently risked significant data exposure and security breaches.

These events have underscored the unique risks posed by generative AI technologies for Intellectual property. This misuse of generative AI highlights the critical need for stringent data protection measures and adherence to privacy protocols.

What do Fortune 500 companies think about GenAI and Intellectual Property?
 

A recent Acrolinx survey of Fortune 500 companies found Intellectual property concerns to be prominent for enterprise leaders considering generative AI technology.

Asked what their primary concern about the use of generative AI is, 25 of the 86 respondents selected intellectual property as their biggest concern.
This was followed closely by customer security compliance concerns, which received 23 votes. Comparatively, the other three answers (bias and inaccuracy, privacy risk, and public data availability and quality) received between nine to 16 votes each.
A total of 86 companies participating in a survey may not seem to make for a statistically significant study, but that number represents 17% of the Fortune 500 universe, which is a significant representation (statistics show a viable sample size at a minimum of 5%)

Why are companies losing sight of IP protection? 5 steps to mitigate risks of IP loss
 

In today’s competitive market, the race to generate revenue often leads companies into a precarious situation, particularly when it involves the intricate world of intellectual property (IP) and its intersection with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). As businesses strive to innovate and capitalize on their unique IP amidst stressful market conditions, a new challenge emerges: safeguarding the ownership and value of their intellectual creations. This urgency to push products to market, license IP to third parties, or develop cutting-edge software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings can inadvertently result in the dilution of a company’s most valuable assets.

Businesses can adopt several strategies to avoid the loss of intellectual property (IP) when using Generative AI (GenAI) technologies. Given the complex and evolving nature of IP law in relation to AI, these measures are essential to mitigate risks and ensure compliance:

Limited Access: To minimize the risk of data breaches or unauthorized access, only limited access of project files and sensitive information should be confined to those directly engaged in the project’s development.
Clear Ownership Agreement: Before any work commences, clear contracts should be established, outlining the specific ownership rights of project intellectual property (IP), ensuring clarity and protection for all parties involved.
Secure Infrastructure: To protect against potential cyber threats, the maintenance of robust security measures, such as firewalls, encryption protocols, secure servers, and regular software updates, should be prioritized.
Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs): To safeguard confidential information and trade secrets, NDAs should be signed, creating a legally binding commitment to protect sensitive data.
Version Control Systems: Utilizing version control systems, like Git or SVN, should be a standard practice to monitor development changes, ensuring that all previous versions of the work are securely archived and retrievable when necessary.

Lumeus.ai offers Zero Trust Security for AI, enabling IT Security to efficiently manage ShadowAI, control AI access, and enforce AI guardrails. It integrates seamlessly with existing security infrastructures, supporting identity platforms like Okta, Google, Active Directory, and network security platforms from Palo Alto, ZScaler, Fortinet, enabling a smooth deployment.

If you’re interested in a deeper discussion or even in contributing to refining this perspective, feel free to reach out to us.

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GenAI and Data Access
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Personal and sensitive data, such as PII, PHI, and PCI, necessitating the implementation of AI guardrails for privacy protection

Privacy Protection: Can the Digital Generation Maintain Confidentiality

AI Firewall,Privacy Protection,Data Protection,GenAI,Top 5 LLM Security Risks

ByMatt
February 28, 2024

Summary
 

Generative AI’s potential to boost the global economy by up to $4.4 trillion is driven by its broad industry adoption and massive data use, but challenges like data leakage and privacy, highlighted by Google and OWASP, underline the importance of protecting data for secure AI applications.
Italy’s ban on ChatGPT, driven by data privacy issues, showcases how GenAI introduces complex privacy risks harder to address than those from past technologies.
How to protect Privacy while using GenAI

What Mckinsey, Gartner and Google have to say about Gen AI and Privacy Protection?
 

Generative AI could add $2.6 to $4.4 trillion annually to the global economy, according to McKinsey. Its impact is due to widespread adoption across various industries and the use of large data sets.
Data is a key factor, with organizations collecting huge amounts in the cloud for AI applications.
Gartner predicts that by 2025, Generative AI will generate 10% of all data, up from less than 1%.
Google surveys at Modern Security event reveals “data leakage” and “privacy” as top AI risks.
OWASP lists these concerns in the top 10 risks for foundational applications.

Why did Italy ban ChatGPT? Is GenAI a risk to privacy protection?
 

Italy’s decision to ban ChatGPT was primarily due to concerns over data privacy violations as indicated by the Italian Data Protection Authority, Garante. The ban highlighted serious issues related to the handling of personal data by AI systems like ChatGPT. Garante’s investigation pointed to potential breaches of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), focusing on the improper collection and processing of personal data for training AI algorithms, among other concerns.

Generative AI poses a unique and significant risk to privacy, making it a more concerning issue compared to traditional technologies because of the following reasons:

Complexity and Opacity (Black Box Issue): Many generative AI models, especially those based on deep learning, are complex and not easily interpretable even by their creators. This “black box” nature makes it difficult to understand how data is being processed and used, complicating efforts to ensure privacy and comply with regulations.
Permanence and Indelibility: Content generated by AI, especially false or sensitive information, can spread quickly and be difficult to remove or correct once disseminated across the internet, leading to long-term privacy issues.
Scalability of Attacks: Generative AI can automate and scale social engineering attacks, phishing, and other malicious activities that compromise privacy. The efficiency and effectiveness of these AI-driven attacks pose a significant risk to personal and organizational privacy.
Inference and re-identification attacks: AI’s ability to connect seemingly unrelated data can expose sensitive information, necessitating strong security measures.
Data breaches and security risks: As AI integrates deeper into systems, it becomes a bigger target for cyberattacks, leading to severe consequences like identity theft and privacy violations.
Potential for Misuse: GenAI can create convincing fake content, posing risks of fraud and unauthorized use of identities, leading to privacy breaches.

In summary, the convergence of generative AI’s extensive data needs, its ability to create convincing fake content, and its complex, opaque decision-making processes create a potent mix of privacy risks that are more challenging to manage than those posed by previous technologies.

How can you protect privacy while using GenAI?
 

Managing and protecting personal and business privacy becomes crucial. As GenAI tools like Google Bard, Microsoft’s AI integrations, and ChatGPT become more ingrained in our daily digital interactions, understanding and utilizing available data protection measures is key.

Access management: By managing user access, organizations can prevent identity theft, data breaches, and unauthorized entry to sensitive business information. Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems are effective in halting the spread of compromised login details, blocking unauthorized network access, and safeguarding against various cyber threats like hacking, ransomware, and phishing.
Encrypted Communication Channels: Secure data using encryption during transmission and while stored.
Regular Privacy Setting Updates: Frequently update privacy settings in GenAI tools to match updates and new features.
Anonymization Techniques: Use data anonymization before feeding information to GenAI to preserve privacy.
Staying Informed About Data Policies: Keep up-to-date with GenAI services’ data policies to make informed privacy decisions.
Selection of Privacy-Focused Tools: Choose GenAI tools with robust privacy and data protection features.
Google Bard’s Data Management: Utilize Google Bard’s options for auto-erasing, manual deletion, or indefinite data retention to manage AI data while preserving privacy.
Microsoft’s AI Data Management: Leverage the integrated security and privacy settings in Microsoft’s products, including GenAI tools, to control and secure data.
ChatGPT Web Privacy Controls: Access ChatGPT’s web privacy controls to restrict data usage for model training and manage chat history.

Lumeus.ai offers Zero Trust Security for AI, enabling IT Security to efficiently manage ShadowAI, control AI access, and enforce AI guardrails. It integrates seamlessly with existing security infrastructures, supporting identity platforms like Okta, Google, Active Directory, and network security platforms from Palo Alto, ZScaler, Fortinet, enabling a smooth deployment.

If you’re interested in a deeper discussion or even in contributing to refining this perspective, feel free to reach out to us.

Unlock Zero Trust Security for
GenAI and Data Access
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