Cisco Announces AI Defense Solution to Safeguard AI Transformations

Protecting AI Applications from Misuse and Threats

Cisco, the leader in security and networking, has announced Cisco AI Defense, a pioneering solution to enable and safeguard AI transformations within enterprises. As AI technology advances, new safety concerns and security threats are emerging at an unprecedented speed, which existing security solutions are unprepared to protect against.

Key Features of Cisco AI Defense

Cisco’s end-to-end solution protects both the development and use of AI applications so enterprises can advance their AI initiatives with confidence.
AI Defense safeguards against the misuse of AI tools, data leakage, and increasingly sophisticated threats, which existing security solutions are not equipped to handle.
The innovative solution leverages Cisco’s unmatched network visibility and control to stay ahead of ever-evolving AI safety and security concerns.

Cisco AI Defense is purpose-built for enterprises to develop, deploy, and secure AI applications with confidence. The solution addresses two urgent risks: developing and deploying secure AI applications and securing access to AI applications.

Developing and Deploying Secure AI Applications

As AI becomes ubiquitous, enterprises will use and develop hundreds, if not thousands, of AI applications. Developers need one set of AI security and safety guardrails that work for every application. AI Defense helps developers move fast and unlock greater value by protecting AI systems from attacks and safeguarding model behavior, across platforms.

Discovering AI: Security teams need to understand who is building applications and the training sources they use. AI Defense detects shadow and sanctioned AI applications across public and private clouds.
Model Validation: Model tuning can lead to toxic and unexpected outcomes. Automated testing checks AI models for hundreds of potential safety and security issues. This AI-driven algorithmic red team identifies potential vulnerabilities and recommends guardrails in AI Defense for security teams to use.
Runtime Security: Continuous validation safeguards against potential safety and security threats such as prompt injection, denial of service, and sensitive data leakage on an ongoing basis.

Securing Access to AI Applications

As end users rush to adopt AI applications like summarization tools to improve their productivity, security teams need to prevent data leakage and the poisoning of proprietary data. AI Defense enables security teams with:

Visibility: Provides a comprehensive view of shadow and sanctioned AI-enabled apps used by employees.
Access Control: Implements policies that restrict employee access to unsanctioned AI tools.
Data and Threat Protection: Continuously safeguards against threats and confidential data loss while ensuring compliance.

Benefits of Cisco AI Defense

Cisco AI Defense provides a common layer of safety and security that protects every user and every application. The solution is self-optimizing, leveraging Cisco’s proprietary machine learning models to detect ever-evolving AI safety and security concerns based on threat intelligence data from Cisco Talos. Splunk customers that are using AI Defense will receive enriched alerts with additional context from across the entire ecosystem.

Conclusion

Cisco AI Defense is a pioneering solution that enables and safeguards AI transformations within enterprises. The solution addresses two urgent risks: developing and deploying secure AI applications and securing access to AI applications. With its self-optimizing capabilities and seamless integration with existing data flows, Cisco AI Defense provides unparalleled visibility and control for enterprises to unlock AI innovation and adoption.

FAQs

Q: What is Cisco AI Defense?

A: Cisco AI Defense is a pioneering solution that enables and safeguards AI transformations within enterprises.

Q: What are the key features of Cisco AI Defense?

A: The key features of Cisco AI Defense include discovering AI, model validation, runtime security, visibility, access control, and data and threat protection.

Q: How does Cisco AI Defense address the risks associated with AI applications?

A: Cisco AI Defense addresses the risks associated with AI applications by providing a common layer of safety and security that protects every user and every application, and by leveraging Cisco’s proprietary machine learning models to detect ever-evolving AI safety and security concerns.

Q: Is Cisco AI Defense available for enterprises to use?

A: Yes, Cisco AI Defense will be available in March for enterprises to safeguard their AI transformations.