Please plan for cyber threats from AI models!

SCWorld.com reported that “Industry researchers warn that adversarial attacks on AI models are on the rise. Unlike conventional cyberattacks, these exploits manipulate the AI itself — feeding it poisoned data, corrupting its inputs, or leveraging its built-in biases. The result can be reputational damage, regulatory penalties, or operational disruption.”  The September 16, 2025 article entitled “Five ways businesses can protect AI models in an age of rising cyber threats” (https://tinyurl.com/45kdxhed) included the “Five defensive priorities for business”:

Executives looking to mitigate AI risks should treat model protection as a board-level issue. Security experts recommend five clear steps:

1. Invest in employee training: Human error is often the weakest link. Educate staff on the risks of feeding sensitive data into AI tools and train them to recognize phishing or adversarial prompts.

2. Establish AI governance policies: Define ethical and responsible use of AI within the company. Policies should cover acceptable data inputs, privacy protections, and compliance with evolving regulations.

3. Secure the infrastructure: Apply zero-trust principles, strict access controls, and continuous monitoring to the servers and systems hosting AI models. These assets should be treated as critical infrastructure.

4. Validate and sanitize inputs: All inputs must be screened before reaching the model. This is especially important for businesses relying on LLMs, where prompt injection attacks are difficult to detect.

5. Minimize and anonymize data: Restrict models to the minimum necessary data. Use anonymization or encryption to reduce the risk of exposing sensitive details in the event of a compromise.

Great advice!