Data security: the foundation for safe AI use
AI is here to stay. We can say that after the developments of the past year. More and more organizations are using smart AI tools to work more efficiently and better (together). In some cases, this is done in a controlled manner, but by no means always. And if you use AI uncontrollably, there are risks involved. What can happen and how do you prevent essential data from leaking to the outside world?
The risks of uncontrolled AI use
In their private lives, many people are already making full use of AI. For example, ChatGPT has become an integral part of everyday life for many. Because the efficiency benefits are palpable, AI tools are slowly but surely creeping into organizations. Especially if they do not yet facilitate such tools themselves. In such cases, employees often use the free version of an AI tool to work faster and easier.
What they do not always realize is that they often give permission to train the tool with the data they enter. This may involve sensitive business information. And as an organization, you obviously don't want intellectual property or HR files to be used in that way. If you don't protect such company data properly, malicious parties can run off with it.
Pursuing such a (non)policy is a bit like driving into the dark without proper signage: you drive on a gamble, hoping that the road will remain straight — but without knowing it, you may turn left or right several times where you shouldn't. And so you get hopelessly lost in no time.
Data Security
How to facilitate AI within your organization: 2 tips to prevent your data from leaking to the outside world
1. Gain insight
Do you want to mitigate risks? To prevent or solve a problem, you need to know where it is. As an organization, you first want to have insight into the AI tools that your employees use. It is also important to know whether they share critical data with these tools.
Good news: there are tools for this! You can see all of this with Data Security Posture Management for AI (DSPM for AI), formerly AI Hub. This is a part of Microsoft Purview, which you use to arrange security. With the DSPM for AI, you gain the insight you need to make a solid policy. And to talk to users, so that you find out why they use certain tools. The latter is important in the context of our next tip...
2. Embrace AI
If you don't make AI tools available to employees in this day and age, chances are they will start using them on their own. Then your organization can turn into an uncontrolled AI forest in no time where dangers lurk in every corner.
What would you much rather do? Offering an AI tool in a well-thought-out way where you can set up security properly! Microsoft Copilot, for example, lends itself well to this. You can use this tool in a fairly controlled manner. You can apply a policy to it and clearly indicate which data employees may or may not use. This is how you make it a win-win situation.
Why is data security indispensable?
Do you want to use an AI tool like Microsoft Copilot in your organization? Then data security is indispensable. Because such a tool will 'snoop' through your data, you have to make the right data accessible at the right times. In addition, it is crucial to organize your data in such a way that people cannot just share all information.