Why AI Security Still Fails at the Cloud Layer, Palo Alto Networks Warns

According to a Palo Alto Networks survey of 2,800 executives, the biggest risks impeding the adoption of secure AI are not AI models per se, but rather cloud infrastructure and poor identity management.

Based on a survey of 2,800 corporate executives and cybersecurity professionals, Palo Alto Networks' report provides a new insight into the concerns and priorities influencing choices regarding AI adoption and security.

The security of the cloud infrastructure supporting the AI systems, the accuracy of the training data for the AI models, and adherence to new AI rules were the respondents' top worries. Concerns regarding the dangers of open-source AI libraries were also mentioned by executives.

The fact that companies are most concerned about the cloud foundations of their AI systems highlights a crucial aspect of the contemporary business environment: even though AI is changing how businesses function, it still necessitates the same fundamental cloud infrastructure that businesses have been using – and finding difficult to secure – for a very long time.

According to Palo Alto Networks' research, the attack surface hasn't actually moved very far. Cloud infrastructure continues to be its foundation.

According to the report, businesses should integrate cloud security activities into their security operations centers (SOCs), streamline incident-response processes, and treat identity management as a "tier-one security priority" to safeguard their cloud infrastructure.

In particular, the identity proposal is consistent with statements made in recent months by several other security firms. ReliaQuest stated in November that "identity-related weaknesses" were involved in over half of the attacks it saw on cloud settings. Identity was recently referred to as "the primary attack surface" by the cloud data management company Rubrik.

Overly lax identity management procedures were cited as a major security challenge by more than half (53%) of firms in the Palo Alto Networks research.