Employees are often unaware of the potential risks when using GenAI tools. They share sensitive information such as product code, customer data, financial information, and internal communications while using these tools. This poses a significant security concern for organizations, as proprietary source code could be stored or used for training models, potentially leaking to competitors or unauthorized sources.
The risk extends to various scenarios, including developers using GenAI tools to fix bugs in code and financial analysts seeking help with analysis and forecasting. Salespeople and customer service representatives may also input sensitive customer information while crafting personalized emails. All this data, which would typically be heavily protected by the enterprise, is freely shared with unknown external sources.
Chief Security Information Officers (CISOs) of large enterprises express their concerns about protecting sensitive data. They cannot control the data that employees share with GenAI tools, jeopardizing patents, sensitive code, and future IPO plans. According to a report by LayerX, 4% of employees paste sensitive data into GenAI on a weekly basis, leading to data exfiltration.
To address these challenges, a new category of security vendors is emerging, offering browser security solutions that enable the adoption of GenAI without compromising security. These solutions monitor the data employees input into GenAI tools through the browser, providing real-time warnings or blocking the pasting of sensitive information if necessary.
Or Eshed, CEO and co-founder of LayerX, emphasizes the importance of benevolent and accessible security measures to educate employees about the risks they unknowingly take. By implementing browser security solutions, organizations can prevent data loss while ensuring productivity and employee satisfaction. This approach involves analyzing employee actions and browsing events to detect sensitive information and potential malicious activities.
While some may be hesitant to embrace GenAI tools due to security concerns, history has shown that organizations that embrace innovation tend to outperform their competitors. However, this does not mean taking a naive or carefree approach. It requires a comprehensive plan to address data loss risks, with the support of security vendors offering GenAI data loss prevention solutions.
In conclusion, the increasing adoption of GenAI tools presents both opportunities and risks for organizations. By implementing browser security solutions and educating employees about data loss risks, businesses can harness the benefits of GenAI while maintaining data security and staying ahead of the competition.
