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Artificial intelligence it is already part of daily work. Teams in marketing, technology, finance, Human Resources and other areas use AI tools to analyze information, generate content, automate tasks or speed up processes.
However, there is a question that many organizations still cannot answer with certainty: what AI tools are their employees actually using and what information are they sharing with them? When that adoption occurs outside of IT and security controls, a new challenge appears: Shadow AI.
And no, the solution is not to stop the use of artificial intelligence, but, rather, to maintain visibility and control as adoption grows.
To understand how to do this, let’s start with the basics…
Shadow AI is the use of AI applications, models, agents, or tools within an organization without formal approval or oversight from the teams responsible for IT and security.
It can happen, for example, when a collaborator enters internal information into a public chatbot, when a developer connects an external model using an API, or when an area adopts a new application with AI without going through corporate controls.
In many cases, there is no malicious intent, as the user is simply looking to work faster; however, risk arises when the organization loses visibility into what AI is being used, what data it processes, and what systems it can access.
Fortunately, Palo Alto Networks includes precisely the ability to discover Shadow AI within Prisma AIRS, providing visibility into agents, applications, and AI models present in the environment.
The growth of unauthorized AI can create new risk surfaces. As such, there are three aspects that are critical to see and address:
A collaborator can share contracts, financial information, customer data, etc., with an AI tool without knowing how it stores that information. For this reason, the Artificial intelligence security requires extending protection beyond traditional systems.
When different areas adopt tools on their own, maintaining an inventory becomes more complex; in addition to that, without visibility, establishing controls is also more difficult. For this reason, Palo Alto Networks proposes an approach based on Discover, assess, and secure the AI ecosystem, including applications, models, and agents.
Like it or not, the evolution towards AI agents increases the challenge even more, because an agent is no longer just answering a question: today they can consult information, connect with tools and execute actions. This means that AI cybersecurity must also consider identities, permissions, runtime behavior and access to your systems.
Definitely not. We must understand that, if employees use these tools, it is because they find value in them. That is why it is necessary to integrate a marketing strategy. AI governance that allows answering questions such as:
The goal is to move from invisible adoption to governed adoption, and this involves combining clear policies, training, and alternatives that allow artificial intelligence to be leveraged in the enterprise without losing visibility.
The first step is to identify the AI tools, applications, models, and agents that already exist. From there, the organization can set usage policies and enforce security controls.
But visibility isn’t enough. As new AI-related risk surfaces grow, so does the pressure on security teams.
In this context, modernizing the operation of the SOC becomes part of the strategy to manage these risks. With Cortex XSIAM, Palo Alto Networks unifies data, analytics, artificial intelligence, and automation to reduce operational noise and accelerate investigation and response. According to Palo Alto Networks, these capabilities can help reduce by up to 98% average response time.
As new applications, models, and agents emerge, AI security must evolve to protect data, identities, and operations without limiting innovation.
At Itera Process we accompany organizations on this path with the capabilities of Palo Alto Networks, from the modernization of the SOC, to the definition of a roadmap towards more automated security operations.
A través de nuestro SOC Readiness Assessment, identificamos oportunidades para preparar tu operación para una nueva generación de amenazas.
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