Staying secure in the age of AI

Table of contents

What are the risks that could come with AI use?

Four steps your business can take towards secure AI

How to get started with security for AI

Make secure steps into the world of AI

AI has become an important element in how businesses operate. But this popularity leads to a very important question; do you know how your employees are using it?

This isn’t a subject that can be glossed over. Because while AI promises to be an essential factor in helping SMEs build and maintain a competitive edge, it’s not always easy to keep on top of what’s out there. And it’s even harder to know what your teams are accessing on your company networks.

And that’s a serious problem. AI tool misuse can lead to serious negative impact on small business security. Recent research reveals that 64% of UK workers are embracing AI in their jobs without restriction. Even seemingly harmless uses, such as customer service chatbots or internal report generation, could lead to serious problems. Especially as more than a quarter (26%) of businesses have no way of tracking AI use in the workplace.

This means your employees may be copying and pasting client data, strategy documents or internal messages into ChatGPT or Copilot. Unfortunately, that means they may be exposing sensitive information to third parties and model training.

More than anything, this shows that, while there are many positives of being at the forefront of AI adoption, there is also a clear security risk that must be confronted. But with AI security still in its very early stages, what cyber security strategy can businesses use to keep data safe?

What are the risks that could come with AI use?

Like most tools, AI itself isn’t inherently dangerous. It’s how it’s used that can be the problem – if it’s unguarded and unmanaged, the potential for security issues increases.

The significant risk for businesses is that unguarded AI use could lead to precious data, including confidential client information and IP, being leaked to unknown and potentially malicious third parties.

While that is the standout risk, it’s far from the only one. Other concerns to consider include:

• Employees may bypass internal systems to save time.
• AI tools may generate incorrect outputs based on exposed data.
• Malware may be disguised as an AI tool, and risk exposing your network.

Four steps your business can take towards secure AI

1. Create clear AI usage policies: Be clear on what is allowed and what’s not, so your teams understand which tools they can use and how they should be using them. Develop simple guidelines on what tools are approved, what data can be entered, how they should be used, and where they can go for clarification. These policies will need to be easily accessible and regularly updated, as AI technology continues to progress.
2. Educate your teams: The risks of AI aren’t well known, so make sure everyone knows what secure AI use looks like. Provide training and resources, like our short guide to using Microsoft Copilot, to share knowledge and ensure everyone is up to date with the latest guidance. As new threats or opportunities emerge, keep teams aware.
3. Regulate AI tools: Take control over which AI tools can be accessed through the network, so you know that your teams can only use the tools you have approved. As with regular content filters, it’s good to keep a dialogue with staff, so they can request tools be unblocked and make suggestions as they progress. Consider setting up permissions and request processes to help with this, and to keep usage transparent and monitored.
4. Use Cloudflare Bot Management: As Cloudflare Partner of the Year 2024, we’re ideally positioned to help you take proactive steps in securing your digital assets. One of the most effective tools available is Cloudflare’s Bot Management. By analysing traffic patterns in real time, it enables you to monitor and block unwanted crawlers or scraping from AI bots — protecting sensitive or proprietary content from being indexed or repurposed without your knowledge. As AI continues to evolve, this kind of bot protection is becoming an essential security layer for SMEs.

How to get started with security for AI

We know that most SMEs don’t have in-house cyber security or compliance teams to implement the steps.

That’s where an expert, award-winning partner can help. Working with Focus Group, you’ll have our full support for:

• Implementing Cloudflare and bot protection
• Creating cyber policies and undertaking risk assessments
• Configuring Microsoft 365 and Copilot for secure use
• Providing ongoing security training and incident response

Make secure steps into the world of AI

AI isn’t going away – it’s growing quickly. Regulation doesn’t always keep up, and you can’t afford to wait for it.

AI may bring security concerns but, rather than blocking it, businesses should adopt it strategically, so they can access the benefits while minimising the risks.

By working with Focus Group, you get a technology partner with Authorised Service Delivery Partner status for Cloudflare. And a partner that understands the risks and rewards of AI and can help you act in a way that suits your business and growth goals.

By balancing innovation and protection – using policy, training and layered security technology – we can support your journey into AI in a safe and smart way.

If you want to find out more about cyber security and AI technology like Cloudflare, please do get in touch with our experts.

Or, you can find industry-specific Microsoft Copilot use cases, whatever your business, in this article.