Should business owners be worried about AI security threats?

A desk with a notepad and computer and a robot representing AI

Does AI pose a security threat to your business?

Collaborative post by another author.

AI has been all the rage for a few years now. There seems to be near endless parroting about both the existential danger it poses to humanity and the opportunities it presents to businesses looking to optimise their operations.

This is all very well, but the majority of what you hear is hyperbole and doesn’t deserve serious attention. Certain AI security threats are very real however and you do need to take steps to consider and mitigate these. With this in mind, here’s what you should actually be worried about as a business owner.

AI Has Near Infinite Use Cases

The first thing to note about AI is that it’s an incredibly versatile technology. Therefore, it can be used to optimise just about any process imaginable, from research methods and recruitment to cyber attacks and password hacking.

As a result, any of the risks that your business faced previously are potentially made more serious when combined with AI-powered tools. You should assume that most cyber criminals will be looking to explore creative ways of using AI to attack your business, and take adequate steps to protect it.

Internal AI Attacks

It’s also important to recognise that AI security breaches can emerge internally. Whether by accident or as a result of intentional attacks, these events can be incredibly damaging to your business in a number of different areas.

There are a few ways to limit the chances that your own employees use AI in these ways. You can use background check services like Personnel Checks to limit the chances that you employ people with criminal intentions, but you should also make sure that you train your employees on safe AI practices to avoid unintentional security breaches.

Accidental Threats

Another important range of threats that can result from AI usage more generally is accidental. Many people and organisations place a lot of blind trust in the results that things like large language models put out, but AI can make a lot of mistakes.

These mistakes can be foolish at best, downright dangerous at worst. Trusting any data blindly is an incredibly dangerous mistake to make as a business owner, and in the context of AI, it requires even more care.

Data Breaches

Lastly, using AI without due care can result in serious data breaches. With some tools and models, any information that you upload is shared with the model and its owners, and in some cases, even made accessible to the general public. If your business deals with sensitive information, this could result in serious legal issues, not to mention the damage that it could do to your brand.

AI presents a lot of potentially beneficial opportunities for business owners, but it also has the potential to expose organisations to a range of security threats. It’s important to consider the risks posed by AI to your business in particular, and look for any potential solutions available to you that could help to limit the damage they might do.