GenAI use banned by one in four cos owing to data security risks: Cisco

GenAI issues: Over one in four organisations surveyed have prohibited the use of Generative AI due to privacy and data security risks, a global study by Cisco has said.

Atleast 27 per cent of the surveyed organisations have banned the use of GenAI at least temporarily, the 'Cisco 2024 Data Privacy Benchmark Study' found.

Considering responses from 2,600 privacy and security professionals across 12 locations - India, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, the UK and the US, the study reflected that most organisations were limiting the use of generative artificial intelligence over data privacy and security issues. 

The findings underline the growing privacy concerns with GenAI, organisations facing trust challenges over AI use and returns from privacy investment.

Privacy is not only a regulatory compliance matter, the seventh edition of the report highlighted.

Businesses cited the threats to an organisation's legal and Intellectual Property rights among the top concerns at 69 per cent, followed closely by the risk of disclosing information to the public or competitors (68 per cent).

''Most organisations are aware of these risks and are putting in place controls to limit exposure: 63 per cent have established limitations on what data can be entered, 61 per cent have limits on which GenAI tools can be used by employees, and 27 per cent said their organisation had banned GenAI applications altogether for the time being,'' Cisco said

Even then, several people have entered problematic information such as employee information at 45 per cent, or non-public information about the company at 48 per cent.

Cisco’s Chief Legal Officer Dev Stahlkopf noted, "Organisations see GenAI as a fundamentally different technology with novel challenges to consider.'' 

Over 90 per cent of respondents believe GenAI requires new techniques to manage data and risk, Stahlkopf said, adding this is where thoughtful governance comes into play.

(With PTI inputs)