In the past few years, large enterprises have faced ongoing data breaches leading to customer data being leaked and high penalties for lax security measures. The reality is that the size of the company does not matter, as cyberattacks can happen to every company.
The key to securing data from breaches and privacy violations is to assess common risks and incorporate data security strategies. In this guide, we will review strategies to secure data with AI usage.
The number of data breach victims in just the second quarter of 2024 was 1 billion representing a 1,170% increase over Q2 2023, according to Fast Company
With the proliferation of tools to optimize business processes, be it open-source technology or regular SaaS software solutions, or AI tools, businesses are constantly exposing themselves to data privacy risks.
AI itself is crucial for many industries. It is used not only to optimize business processes but also to enhance data protection. For instance, AI security tools have algorithms that instantly detect fraud or abnormal activities. Machine learning algorithms are able to forecast potential trends and risks.
The role of AI in data protection is critical, as it helps to:
Even though AI security solutions help prevent risks, generative AI, such as AI assistants and open AI tools, pose certain risks.
For instance, common risks of using generative AI tools include:
Let’s review strategies to secure data with AI.
One of the most essential things every company using AI tools must take care of is establishing clear guidelines on how employees interact with AI. Such policies must address a variety of data security concerns and showcase clear standards and regulations on using particular tools. You can also add a layer of security with DLP 2.0 solutions.
It is vital to consider tools that can and cannot be used by employees depending on the transparency levels they offer regarding further data use.
In a nutshell, the organization must address:
You can secure your data when using AI systems by using dedicated AI security solutions, such as Wald. This tool provides necessary security measures to ensure regulatory compliance with a variety of data protection policies, including GDPR, GLBA, and CCPA. Also, it is worth mentioning that you can set your own custom data retention policy with this tool.
It is best to avoid inputting confidential data such as trade secrets and other forms of sensitive data into AI systems. By avoiding the usage of confidential data, organizations eliminate the risk of such data becoming part of the AI system training dataset and being at risk of data leaks.
The main benefits of this strategy include risk minimization, regulatory compliance, and improved customer trust.
To safeguard confidential data, data anonymization can be used to safeguard your data from generative AI systems. An example of such a tool is Wald, which offers complete security when using AI assistants such as ChatGPT by intelligent data substitutions and enterprise/employee identity anonymization.
To ensure that data entry guidelines are being followed properly, you need to conduct regular audits. For instance, you can establish role-based permissions to ensure that only authorized employees can access certain types of data.
Audits help to identify any suspicious or unauthorized activities. Thus, you will be able to protect data and ensure compliance with privacy regulation policies regularly.
Another way to protect the organization’s sensitive data from a data breach or leak is to incorporate encryption methods to allow for the protection of conversations using customer-supplied encryption keys so no one outside the customer organization can ever have access to confidential data.
Wald is a robust software solution that will help you protect your data by offering features such as intelligent data substitutions and enterprise identity anonymization.
Also, Wald offers features such as sensitive PII and trade secrets detection, allowing admins to set custom data retention policies and ensure compliance with CCPA, GLBA, GDPR, and other security regulations.
Contact us to find out more about how Wald can help your organization leverage the power of AI while ensuring high levels of data security.