Cybersecurity of AI Systems

Breaking Defense published an article that explores both the potential benefits and risks of generative artificial intelligence, featuring insights from CSET's Micah Musser.

CSET Senior Fellow Dr. Heather Frase discussed her research on effectively evaluating and assessing AI systems across a broad range of applications.

Artificial intelligence systems are rapidly being deployed in all sectors of the economy, yet significant research has demonstrated that these systems can be vulnerable to a wide array of attacks. How different are these problems from more common cybersecurity vulnerabilities? What legal ambiguities do they create, and how can organizations ameliorate them? This report, produced in collaboration with the Program on Geopolitics, Technology, and Governance at the Stanford Cyber Policy Center, presents the recommendations of a July 2022 workshop of experts to help answer these questions.

CSET's Josh A. Goldstein was recently quoted in a WIRED article about state-backed hacking groups using fake LinkedIn profiles to steal information from their targets. Goldstein provides insight by highlighting the issues in the disinformation space.

A report by CSET's Josh Goldstein, Micah Musser, and CSET alumna Katerina Sedova in collaboration with OpenAI and Stanford Internet Observatory was cited in an article published by Grid. The report examines the potential misuse of language models for influence operations in the future and proposes a structure for evaluating possible solutions to this problem.

A report by CSET’s Josh Goldstein, Micah Musser, and CSET alumna Katerina Sedova in collaboration with OpenAI and Stanford Internet Observatory was cited in an article published on Medium. The report explores how language models could be misused for influence operations in the future, and it provides a framework for assessing potential mitigation strategies.

CSET Senior Fellow Andrew Lohn testified before the House of Representatives Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Innovation at a hearing on "Securing the Future: Harnessing the Potential of Emerging Technologies While Mitigating Security Risks." Lohn discussed the application of AI systems in cybersecurity and AI’s vulnerabilities.

CSET Senior Fellow Andrew Lohn testified before the House of Representatives Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight and Subcommittee on Research and Technology at a hearing on "Securing the Digital Commons: Open-Source Software Cybersecurity." Lohn discussed how the United States can maximize sharing within the artificial intelligence community while reducing risks to the AI supply chain.

CSET Senior Fellow Andrew Lohn testified before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Cybersecurity hearing on artificial intelligence applications to operations in cyberspace. Lohn discussed AI's capabilities and vulnerabilities in cyber defenses and offenses.

Securing AI

Andrew Lohn Wyatt Hoffman
| March 2022

Like traditional software, vulnerabilities in machine learning software can lead to sabotage or information leakages. Also like traditional software, sharing information about vulnerabilities helps defenders protect their systems and helps attackers exploit them. This brief examines some of the key differences between vulnerabilities in traditional and machine learning systems and how those differences can affect the vulnerability disclosure and remediation processes.