To mitigate these risks and strengthen their security posture, organizations should:
1. Fortify identity & access management: Implement robust identity management and privilege access management for both human and non-human identities (NHIs), particularly in cloud environments. Utilize advanced multifactor authentication (MFA) schemes, staying away from SMS-based codes. Leverage identity management solutions that enhance security while streamlining effective access management.
2. Review and reinforce cloud security: Your AI data is most likely moving through clouds, working in the cloud and requires third-party cloud interactions. Conduct thorough assessments of cloud configurations and permissions. Employ cloud-native security tools to monitor activities and enforce security policies effectively. Shift to AI-enhanced automation to rapidly detect and mitigate risks.
3. Strengthen AI governance, risk and compliance (GRC): Align AI initiatives with organizational objectives by ensuring robust AI governance. That governance should focus on the development and deployment of AI systems, overseeing processes, policies, and controls that address the unique complexities and risks introduced by AI. Support this process by leaning on the existing data governance policies to ensure that both work in lockstep to minimize data and privacy risks.
Employ technologies that enable data lineage tracking that follows the journey of data within your organization, from its origin to its final destination, and all the transformations it undergoes along the way. This can help your organization with visibility, ethical AI practices and responding faster to potential data compromise.
4. Provide continuous education and training: Regularly educate and train staff on emerging AI threats and best practices. Develop robust plans, playbooks and response strategies across relevant risk scenarios. Conduct tabletop exercises and simulations to prepare teams for potential cyber incidents.
Bridging the gap between rapid AI adoption and diligent security practices will better equip teams to face the evolving AI threat landscape. Prioritizing governance, ethical considerations and security today will set the stage for resilience tomorrow.
Register to download the full 2025 Cost of a Data Breach Report, and join security experts from IBM and AllTrue.ai in this webinar to learn top insights, including leading contributors to data breach costs, by industry and geography, the risk profile of shadow AI, and practical recommendations to bolster security defenses.
