October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, which makes now as good a time as any to prepare for emerging security threats. Usually, the easiest way to figure out what those are is to identify the newest, hottest technology. Yep, you guessed it: generative AI (GenAI). While GenAI unquestionably revolutionizes how businesses operate, it also introduces unique risks that can compromise data security if not properly managed.
How GenAI Creates Security Risks
The use of AI in everyday workflows is becoming VERY popular, with employees eager to leverage these tools to simplify their tasks. According to research released by Veritas Technologies, 57% of employees used public generative AI tools in the office at least once weekly, with 22% using the technology daily.
However, this convenience often comes at a cost. Many users, driven by efficiency, may upload sensitive information into unsecured AI tools, sometimes skirting company policies in the process.
It's likely that as the adoption of generative AI increases, the associated security risks also will grow. According to IBM's X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2024, cyber criminals target technologies that are ubiquitous across organizations globally to see returns from their campaigns, IBM noted. This approach will extend to AI once GenAI gains market dominance, triggering the maturity of AI as an attack surface and motivating cybercriminals to invest in new tools.
Regulators have already recognized the potential risks of widespread AI use, particularly in the European Union, where the AI Act seeks to create a framework for ensuring AI systems are safe, transparent, and respect fundamental rights. This growing regulatory landscape adds pressure on organizations to adopt secure GenAI solutions that protect their data and maintain compliance.
The Value of Secure, Trusted GenAI Tools Like Agentforce
This is where solutions like Agentforce come into play. Recently introduced at Dreamforce, Agentforce offers a secure, trusted layer of AI functionality, enabling organizations to leverage AI's capabilities without compromising data security. Salesforce’s “Einstein Trust Layer” enables Agentforce to use any Large Language Model (LLM), like ChatGPT, for instance, safely by ensuring that no Salesforce data is viewed or retained by 3rd-party model providers. By integrating GenAI into your tech stack through a solution like Agentforce, you can provide your team with a powerful tool that enhances productivity while maintaining control over sensitive information.
As regulations like the EU’s AI Act come into effect, tools like Agentforce that offer security and compliance safeguards will become critical. These frameworks ensure that businesses leveraging AI remain accountable for their data use, minimizing risks of non-compliance with AI governance standards.
Without secure tools like Agentforce, users are often left to "Frankenstein" their own solutions outside your ecosystem, which increases the risk of data leaks, compliance violations, and suboptimal results.
Using GenAI (Even if Trusted) Doesn’t Absolve You from Your Responsibility to Keep SaaS Data Safe
Even with tools like Agentforce at your disposal, it’s imperative to enforce the principle of least-privilege (PoLP) access across all your SaaS applications. After all, human error is still the number one cause of data loss in SaaS apps. By enforcing the principle of least privilege, you ensure that users only have access to the data and systems necessary for their role, minimizing the potential damage of human error or a breach.
For example, in Salesforce, user permissions can be set to control who has access to specific data sets. Adopting a least privilege approach means consistently reviewing and adjusting these permissions to ensure that access is limited to what’s absolutely necessary.
How Own Can Help Make Your Salesforce Environments More Secure
At Own, we know that securing your Salesforce environment is a multi-faceted challenge. Here’s how our suite of products can help:
- Accelerate: With our anonymization capabilities, sensitive data in your Salesforce developer environments (aka sandboxes) can be masked, ensuring that developers don’t have access to Personally Identifiable Information (PII) during testing and development.
- Secure: Prevent Salesforce configuration creep with our granular “Who Sees What” lenses, which allow you to trace individual, group, or user access rights down to the record level. This visibility enables you to enforce least privilege access effectively and mitigate the risk of unauthorized data access.
- Archive: By archiving obsolete data out of your production environment, you reduce your risk surface and limit the amount of sensitive information that could potentially be exposed in the event of a breach.
- Recover: Even with taking all of the proper security measures, data loss can still occur. Recover for Salesforce provides automated backups of all your important data, metadata, and files, proactively notifies you of data loss and corruption, and equips you with easy-to-use recovery tools.
Ready to take control of your data security? Visit owndata.com to learn more about how Own can help protect your Salesforce environments and keep your sensitive data secure.
