The appeal of AI is clear: the technology promises to spur revolutionary innovations that can drive greater business efficiency, productivity and new revenues, but not without security.
Like any other enterprise asset, AI systems and applications require protection from threat actors who are eager to breach models for their own profit motives.
Securing AI models from advancing threats that could compromise the integrity of data output is a daunting challenge that too few organisations have a handle on today. Add threat actors harnessing AI for their own nefarious purposes to the mix and the situation becomes that much more daunting for the enterprise.
The AI protection gap
Accenture surveyed 2286 executives, 80% of whom are Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and uncovered a perilous scenario where enterprises are largely unready to protect their assets. Just 20% of those surveyed said they were ready to defend their generative AI models from cyber threats. Accenture reported that only 34% have a mature cybersecurity strategy.
One of the issues enterprises are running into with respect to their security postures in general, is that the prioritisation of AI development and deployment over other IT investments often means security falls by the wayside.
Between 2023 and 2024, Accenture reports investments in GenAI projects were 1.6 times higher than security spending. If this trend continues, there is a risk that AI systems built on less than secure ground are vulnerable to cyberthreats. Only 28% of the executives surveyed said they are integrating security capabilities into all transformative projects from the earliest development phases. Only 42% said they are mapping security development spending to AI development.
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By GlobalDataInvestment in security brings dividends
The news is not all bleak. For organisations that prioritise cybersecurity investments and focus on infrastructure resilience as they carry out transformational projects, they create elevated security postures that mitigates serious risks. Enterprises that achieve what Accenture terms a “Reinvention-Ready Zone” classification face a 69% lower risk of the kind of sophisticated cyber attacks that leverage advanced techniques including AI to cripple operations.
The investment in security brings other dividends. Accenture found that organisations that prioritise security spending achieve a 1.7 times lower technical debt due in large part to the overall efficiency and resilience of their infrastructure. The clear takeaway is that enterprises need to balance their AI infrastructure investments with their security spending to ensure the most protected, consistent, and high performing environment possible.
