The Path of an AI Creator News: How should companies deal with AI risks? We explain comprehensive strategies to protect the future with governance, training, and the latest technology! #AISecurity #AIRiskManagement #CorporateStrategy
Video explanation
Learn about the amazing and scary things about AI and deal with it wisely! - A beginner's guide to AI risks -
Hello, I'm John, and I'll be explaining AI technology in an easy-to-understand way! Recently, the word "AI" has become more common on TV and the Internet. AI is like a magic wand that makes our lives more convenient in an instant. However, this magic wand can also have a scary side if used incorrectly.
Today, let's take a look at the "a little scary, but all the more important things you need to know" about AI, in other words, the "risks" that AI can bring, and some hints on how companies and we can safely interact with AI! Even if you think AI seems difficult, by the time you finish reading this article, you'll surely have a better idea of how to interact with AI.
What exactly are the "risks" of AI?
When you hear the word AI, you might imagine something incredibly smart and infallible. But in reality, AI is not omnipotent, and if it is made or used incorrectly, or misused by bad people, unexpected problems can occur. Let's look at the risks from three perspectives: those who make AI, those who use it, and those who misuse it.
Risks for the "creators" of AI
Companies and engineers developing AI systems and apps that use AI also need to be careful about a number of things.
- A careless mistake could lead to the creation of dangerous AI: If you don't carefully consider security (measures to ensure safety) in the initial stages of creating an AI, such as "What if it's misused like this?" or "If we make a mistake here, we might create a dangerous AI," it could make it easier for important data to be stolen, or you could end up with an AI that makes strange decisions. Experts refer to this as a "lack of security by design."
- If you don't follow the global rules, you'll get into trouble!: As AI technology continues to advance, new rules regarding AI are being created all over the world. For example, the "EU AI Law" in Europe, the "AI Risk Management Framework" issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the United States, and the international rule "ISO 42001" are well-known. If you don't follow these rules, you could be in violation of the law or your company's reputation could be damaged.
- Strange data can make the AI go haywire： AI becomes smarter by reading in and learning from lots of data (information). But if the learning data is incorrect or biased, the answers the AI gives will be unreliable. Even worse, some people intentionally feed inaccurate data to the AI to manipulate its decisions to suit their own purposes.
Risks for those who use AI
Even if we don't create AI ourselves, we use various AI services in our daily lives and work without realizing it. For example, AI functions are often built into convenient software that can be used over the Internet (known as SaaS). As you can see, there are things that users of AI need to be careful about.
- Is it dangerous to use AI tools without telling your company?: On a company computer, you download and use an AI tool that you personally find useful without the permission of the IT department... This is the AI version of the so-called "shadow IT" and is sometimes called "shadow AI." It may make your personal work easier, but using it outside of company rules can create a security "loophole" that could leak confidential company information to the outside.
- It would be a problem if there were no "company rules" for how to use AI.: Many companies may not yet have proper usage rules (also called AUP: Acceptable Use Policy) in place for what purposes and to what extent employees can use AI tools. This creates the risk that employees may unintentionally input confidential company information into the AI, inappropriately handle customer privacy information, or unknowingly use the AI in ways that violate the law.
- AI rules may differ depending on the country or region: Laws and regulations regarding AI are not universal around the world, and each country or region has its own unique laws (for example, New York City in the United States has a law that regulates bias when using AI in recruitment selection, and the state of Colorado has guidelines regarding AI governance). Therefore, care must be taken when using AI inappropriately when hiring people or making important financial decisions, as this could lead to legal issues.
Bad people can also misuse AI...
AI is an amazing technology that enriches our lives, but unfortunately, there are some people who want to use its great capabilities for bad purposes.
- Clever scam emails and phone calls tailored just for you: AI is good at analyzing personal characteristics and interests from large amounts of data. Bad people can abuse this AI ability to send you highly believable fraudulent emails and phone calls, pretending to have known you for a long time. This is called a "hyper-personalized attack."
- Beware of fake videos and audio that look just like the real thing!： Have you ever heard of the term "deepfake"? It is a fake video or audio that is so realistic that it is indistinguishable from the real thing, using AI to make it appear as if a specific person is saying something that they did not actually say or doing something that they did not actually do. There have actually been cases of fraud using this to defraud money by impersonating a company president or executive and issuing instructions such as "Please transfer money to this account as soon as possible."
- High-ranking people in companies are especially likely to be targeted.: Company presidents, executives, and other people in important positions within an organization tend to be particularly susceptible to sophisticated cyber attacks. These are known as "whaling attacks" (so named because they target large prey like whales), and they use advanced disguise techniques to try to steal important information and money.
So, how can we safely interact with AI? - The AI risk management cycle
When you hear about the risks mentioned above, you might feel a little scared of using AI. But don't worry! If you take the proper precautions, you can safely use the convenient features of AI. To do this, it is very important toLife Cycle Approach" AI technology, the social situation surrounding it, and the methods of misuse are all changing at an incredible speed every day. So it's not enough to just implement security measures once and then be done with it. It's a "continuous review of the situation and continuous improvement" approach.The continuous improvement cycle"We need initiatives like this.
More specifically, the process typically involves the following steps:
Step 1: First, understand the current situation and create rules (risk assessment and governance)
- A complete review of what kind of AI we're using!: First of all, you need to start by thoroughly identifying what AI tools and AI systems are being used in your company or organization, and what data is being processed by AI. This applies not only to AI developed in-house, but also to AI services provided by external companies. By getting an overall picture in this way, you can create a risk map of "where could dangers be lurking?"
- Let's create proper "company rules for using AI": It is extremely important to create clear internal rules (also known as AUP: acceptable use policy) for using AI safely and effectively, and for all employees to abide by them. When creating rules, referring to the EU AI Act, NIST framework, and ISO international standards mentioned earlier will help you make them more comprehensive and effective, and will also show the outside world that "we are doing a good job of managing AI risks!"
- Make sure that the company's top executives fully understand the risks of AIIt is essential that the company's top brass, such as the president and executives (including the CFO (Chief Financial Officer), head of the legal department, and board of directors) properly understand how AI risks could affect company management (for example, financial losses, legal liability, corporate reputation, etc.). Only with the understanding and commitment of management will it be easier to secure the budget, personnel, and internal structure necessary to deal with AI risks.
Step 2: Protect yourself with the latest technology (technology and tools)
- AI's eyes quickly catch suspicious behavior: To combat increasingly sophisticated AI-based cyber attacks, it is effective for the defense side to have a security system that utilizes AI. For example, AI can detect and warn in real time any unusual signs that are difficult for the human eye to notice, such as strange data movements within a network or requests to access a system from impossible locations.
- "Trust no one" is the watchword? The idea of zero trust： "Zero Trust" is a relatively new way of thinking about computer network security, and it involves taking measures based on the premise that "basically, no one is trusted, whether inside or outside the network." Every time a user tries to access a system or data, they are repeatedly asked questions such as "Are you really who you say you are?" and "Do you have the authority to perform this operation?" It's easier to understand if you think of it as putting multiple locks on the doors of a house. By doing this, even if a bad person manages to get in through one entrance somewhere, they cannot easily expand their access to other systems and data.
- A flexible defense system that can quickly respond to new threats: The methods of cyber attacks using AI are evolving every day. Therefore, rather than relying solely on a defense system that has been deployed, it is important to create a mechanism in advance that allows the defense system to be updated quickly and its settings to be flexibly changed so that it can respond immediately when new threats appear.
Step 3: Learn together and raise awareness (training and awareness raising)
- Let's all study the dangers of AI together: Cyber attacks such as ransomware (a malicious computer virus that takes data hostage and demands a ransom to restore it), deep fake fraud, and social engineering (a method of stealing confidential information by exploiting people's psychological weaknesses and behavioral mistakes) are often successful due to a slight carelessness or lack of knowledge on the part of each employee. For this reason, it is very effective to regularly conduct security training and training by actually sending fake fraudulent emails (phishing training) so that all employees can recognize the danger and think, "Maybe this is suspicious."
- Company leaders also take AI risk countermeasures seriously: Company management (CFO, CISO (Chief Information Security Officer), CRO (Chief Risk Officer), and other responsible persons in each field) also need to have a deep understanding of the extent to which the introduction of AI technology could lead to significant financial losses, business suspension, legal issues, and loss of credibility for the company if it were to cause a security incident (accident or incident) such as a data leak. It is important for them to evaluate the risks of AI from their respective specialist positions and cooperate to promote measures across the organization.
- "If you think something is suspicious, report it and ask for advice immediately!": If any employee has even the slightest suspicion, such as "this seems different than usual" or "is this okay?", it is extremely important to create an open work environment where information can be shared immediately without hesitation to report or consult with a superior or the relevant department, or worry that they will be blamed for reporting. Nurturing the awareness throughout the organization that "security is something that all employees, not just experts, should protect" will ultimately lead to protecting the entire company from danger.
Step 4: Prepare for what if and use it for the next time (response and recovery)
- Practical training for AI-based cyber attacks: Cyber attacks by AI can progress at a much faster speed than traditional human attacks, and the damage can become more widespread. For this reason, security incident response training, like traditional disaster prevention training, needs to be made more realistic and tense. For example, it is important to simulate specific attack scenarios, such as "How would you respond if a deep fake impersonating the president made an emergency call or video conference?" or "How would you proceed with recovery work if the company's systems were infected with a new type of ransomware that exploits AI?", and to actually assign roles and simulate responses.
- Learning from experience and making further improvements: If some kind of security problem does occur, it is important not to dismiss it there, but to thoroughly investigate points such as "What was the cause?", "Could the abnormality have been noticed sooner?", and "Was the response manual that was prepared in advance useful, or is there anything that can be improved?", and to use the lessons learned from that for the next time. Based on the results, review your company's internal rules, security systems, and business processes, and aim to continuously improve the AI risk management capabilities of the entire organization.
Step 5: Always check the latest information and keep up with changes! (Continuous evaluation)
- Always be on the lookout for new laws and attack methods: The world of AI is evolving day by day. When new technology is born, the laws and rules change accordingly, and at the same time, new attack methods that exploit it appear one after another. Therefore, instead of being satisfied with the current measures, it is important to always keep up with the latest information and review whether your company's measures are outdated.
- Check the numbers to see if your measures are really workingIt is important to regularly evaluate whether the various AI risk countermeasures you have implemented are actually producing results using concrete data and indicators (for example, "Has the time it takes to detect suspicious access been shortened?" or "Has security training improved employee awareness?"). Based on the results of that evaluation, you can review the priorities of your countermeasures and adjust budgets and personnel allocations.
- As AI evolves, so will your company’s methodsAs AI technology itself evolves rapidly, companies will need to continually review and evolve the security technologies they introduce, the training they provide to employees, and their internal rules regarding AI governance (a system for properly managing and operating AI). Adapting to change is the key to surviving in the AI era.
Tips for surviving the AI era
Some of you may feel that managing the risks of AI seems like a very difficult task. However, if you keep in mind the important points, you should be able to get along well with AI. Finally, here are some tips to help us survive the AI era wisely and safely.
- We must be prepared to not lose to the evolution of bad AI!: Just as AI can dramatically increase our work productivity, unfortunately, bad people are also using AI to more cleverly and efficiently carry out malicious acts such as phishing (a scam that lures people to fake websites to steal personal information), creating computer viruses, and collecting information for targeted attacks. In order to protect the company's valuable assets (money, information, credit, etc.), it is also necessary to fight back with the latest security strategies.
- In the end, the key is educating "people" and having solid "rules": Ultimately, cyber attacks that exploit AI continue to exploit "weaknesses" such as minor human mistakes, carelessness, and lack of knowledge. This is why education and training for each employee to correctly understand the risks of AI and become aware of suspicious behavior, the creation of clear and effective rules for the entire company, and the strong will of organizational leaders to take the lead in adhering to these rules are among the most important factors in firmly closing the door to cyber attacks.
- It's important to balance the introduction of new technology with its "responsible use": AI frameworks and standards proposed by organizations such as NIST in the US and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) serve as models for companies to not only introduce AI, but also to develop, deploy, and operate it "responsibly." Complying with these principles and guidelines is also extremely important for companies to send the message to their customers and society that "we are serious about the safety of AI," and to build trust.
- Only when people from various positions cooperate can an ironclad defense be achieved!
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