As a technology leader at your small business, you know that the cybersecurity landscape is constantly evolving. Seemingly every day we learn of new threats—from devastating ransomware to highly intelligent phishing attacks. You’re busy protecting your business from these emerging threats and you often deal with related challenges like a cybersecurity talent shortage or limited time and resources to implement a robust cybersecurity operation. But perhaps nothing is changing the digital and cybersecurity landscape more than Generative artificial intelligence (Generative AI or GenAI). In this post, we provide an overview of GenAI to help you prepare for this exciting new landscape.

What is Generative AI?

Traditional AI performs specific tasks using predetermined rules and algorithms. For example, if you enter “what time is dinner” into a translation service, the platform likely uses traditional AI to return an answer, such as “qué hora es la cena” in Spanish. In a business setting, you may see traditional AI used to filter spam from email inboxes based on predefined rules. Traditional AI is smart, but it doesn’t create anything new. It makes predictions based on data and rules. 

GenAI, on the other hand, uses machine learning, models, patterns, and large quantities of existing data to actually create new content. GenAI can produce images, simulations, video, audio, code, text, and more. The underlying basis of GenAI is that it learns to generate objects or content that resemble the human-generated objects or content that it was trained upon. 

For example, if you’ve used the Copilot chatbot by Microsoft, you’ve encountered GenAI. You can ask Copilot to assist with a task, like composing an email or generating a specific image for a product launch, or you can ask a question and receive a very human-like response (along with links to sources). If you lead a small legal firm, GenAI can help your team suggest arguments. If you work with a small design or manufacturing company, GenAI can help your team develop prototypes more efficiently. 

The GenAI Cybersecurity Challenges for your Small Business

The applications of GenAI are limitless. However, there is reason to tread carefully. Broadly speaking, GenAI has been used to create concerning forged content or “deepfakes”. And in a business setting, GenAI can also introduce incredibly damaging cyberattacks against your business, including the following known challenges.

• Next-level phishing: Phishing attempts are dangerous because they’re designed to fool you and your team—and it can all happen in an instant. GenAI is taking this to the next level. It can contribute to incredibly believable phishing attempts that compel or convince your team to click on nefarious links and lures that impersonate an actual decision-maker in your small business. It’s not limited to text or email; GenAI can deliver audio or video impersonations that are equally convincing—and damaging. 

• Privacy risks: Because GenAI relies on large datasets, some models may permanently store information so that it can be used to train other models. This could violate privacy regulations or compliance standards in your given industry, especially when the dataset includes the capture or secondary use of personal information. We also can’t rule out accidental or intentional data leaks from GenAI models.

• Hackers can hide: Nefarious actors can use the cover of GenAI to imitate tactics of others and essentially hide behind these false flags. The increasing adoption of GenAI also makes it challenging for small businesses to spot a hacker based on their tactics or choice of tools. 

Preparing for a GenAI-Powered Cybersecurity Landscape

Despite these challenges, there are steps that your small businesses can take to prepare for GenAI’s impact on your cybersecurity—all while realizing its powerful solutions.

• Minimize your attack surface. Don’t make it easy for hackers. Ensure that all your AI tools—especially those that communicate with your core systems—are set to least privileged access, meaning that only those who need access have it. Establish a daily monitoring program for your AI platforms and remove all unused connections. 

• Continuously monitor your data. Think about the data you capture and store and consider how long you need to retain this. If you don’t need the data—and if you’re not required to retain it from a regulatory perspective—consider deleting it or storing it as an immutable backup. You should also track the performance of your AI application and data sharing to detect anomalies over time. 

• Document everything. To prevent unauthorized access of your information, create a complete inventory of all AI tools that are used across your organization—for both traditional and GenAI applications. Institute a clear process for not only onboarding and training users of the model but also for offboarding users to prevent future intrusions, be they unintentional or malicious. 

Generative AI is here to stay. A recent survey suggests that 65% of respondents said their organization uses GenAI, double the number from less than a year prior. Another survey suggests 76% of employers think GenAI will increase employee productivity, however, more than half of these respondents also expected GenAI to lead to a “catastrophic” cyberattack.

In today’s digital age, your small business can implement cybersecurity measures that enable you to embrace the full potential of GenAI, securely. The key is to stay informed and prepared, and the best protection is a strong defense. N8 Solutions can help with that. Please get in touch with us today to discuss how you can securely adopt GenAI to take your business to the next level.