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Ex-NSA boss Mike Rogers warns against repeating cybersecurity mistakes by incorporating security into AI development from the outset, emphasizing defensibility, redundancy, and resilience to prevent data breaches and other security-related problems.
The cybersecurity landscape has undergone significant transformations due to the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, bringing both benefits and risks. Rogers emphasizes that security should be incorporated into AI development from the outset to prevent potential vulnerabilities and serious consequences. Neglecting security concerns can lead to disastrous consequences, including data breaches, identity theft, hacking, and life-threatening inaccuracies in healthcare models. The responsibility for ensuring AI security will likely fall on developers themselves, who must be mindful of key characteristics such as defensibility, redundancy, and resilience. Developers must carefully consider these factors from the outset to prevent issues associated with AI systems and ensure robustness in models.
The cybersecurity and national security landscape has undergone significant transformations over the years, particularly with regards to artificial intelligence (AI). The rapid advancement of AI technology has opened up new avenues for both benefits and risks. In an address at the Vanderbilt Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats, Mike Rogers, a retired US Navy admiral who served as the director of the National Security Agency and US Cyber Command between 2014 and 2018, stressed the importance of incorporating security into AI development from the outset.
Rogers emphasized that in creating an interconnected world with vast amounts of data at its core, cybersecurity concerns were initially overlooked. It wasn't until much later that these issues became more pronounced. The ex-NSA chief expressed regret over not prioritizing security and redundancy during design as a fundamental aspect of AI development.
He noted that the consequences of neglecting this could be disastrous. Leaks of sensitive information, hallucinations in models, and biased outputs due to skin color or gender are just a few examples of what can go wrong with insecure models. Moreover, these flaws have serious implications for sectors such as healthcare, where the consequences of model inaccuracies can be life-threatening.
Rogers highlighted the value of planning ahead to mitigate potential issues instead of attempting to fix them afterwards. This perspective is echoed by Jen Easterly, who championed the Secure By Design Pledge during her tenure as US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security director. The pledge aims to encourage secure development practices among technology vendors.
The Biden administration has floated the idea of making tech companies liable for flaws in their products, although the Trump administration has been more inclined towards deregulation in the tech sector. As a result, it is likely that the responsibility for ensuring AI security will fall on developers themselves.
Rogers urged AI engineers to be mindful of several key characteristics when developing AI models, including defensibility, redundancy, and resilience. These elements are crucial for preventing vulnerabilities and ensuring that AI systems can withstand potential attacks.
The rapid development of AI technology demands careful consideration of these factors from the outset. By doing so, developers may prevent issues such as data breaches, identity theft, hacking, and other security-related problems associated with AI systems.
In conclusion, the importance of integrating security into AI development cannot be overstated. Ex-NSA chief Mike Rogers emphasizes that baking safety and security into models during development is crucial for preventing potential vulnerabilities and ensuring robustness in AI systems.
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/Ex-NSA-Boss-Warns-AI-Developers-Dont-Repeat-Infosecs-Early-Day-Screwups-ehn.shtml
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2025/04/23/exnsa_boss_ai/
Published: Wed Apr 23 06:44:57 2025 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
