Security Journey Blog

Rewards and Risks of Using AI in Product Security

Written by Security Journey/HackEDU Team | Mar 14, 2024 12:00:00 PM

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly finding its way into various aspects of our lives, and product security is no exception.  

Security teams are exploring how AI-powered tools can help them address challenges when it comes to secure coding, product security, and even bridging the gap between security and development teams. 

In a recent episode of The Security Champions Podcast, Mike spoke about this topic with Ahmad Sadeddin, CEO at Corgea. Their conversation illuminated the rewards that AI offers for product security while also addressing the need for caution when implementing these technologies. 

 

 

 

The Positive Parts of AI for Security 

AI offers a powerful set of tools for enhancing product security strategies.  

One of the most immediate benefits AI can bring to product security is helping tackle cybersecurity alert fatigue. Security teams can limit the overwhelming flood of notifications by using AI to intelligently filter and prioritize alerts and pinpoint the most critical threats.  

AI shines in automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks, freeing up security professionals to focus on strategic initiatives and complex issues. Beyond traditional security roles, AI can democratize data-driven insights, empowering product managers to make security-conscious decisions throughout the development process.  

Read The DZone Article: How Developers Can Work With Generative AI Securely 

Continuous learning is crucial to keeping up with industry vulnerabilities and threats in your product's landscape. Using AI to assist your learning, you can save time by simply asking generative AI platform-specific questions and receiving answers instead of reading multiple articles and watching videos online. However, it's essential to keep in mind that critical thinking is still necessary to avoid any potential issues with misleading or flawed information. 

 

Where To Be Cautious When Using AI 

With every new technology, there is a double-edged sword: Despite its promise, it's essential to be aware of AI's limitations and potential negative implications for security.  

Read The Expert Article: AI AppSec: Can Developers Fight Fire With Fire? 

AI can easily generate misinformation and flawed code, not out of malice but because it predicts patterns rather than truly understanding them. This highlights the ongoing need for human oversight and safeguards.  

As the use of AI continues to grow, it has become increasingly important to consider the potential security threats that may arise. It is necessary to develop strategies that can effectively anticipate and prevent any malicious exploitation of AI technology by adversaries. By doing so, we can ensure that AI is used safely and securely for the benefit of all. 

The most significant risk lies in overreliance and a lack of understanding of how AI works. This complacency can leave organizations vulnerable.  Recognizing the potential for AI-generated malicious code and proactively developing mitigation strategies is essential.  

Ultimately, AI should be used as a powerful tool to augment human security expertise, not replace it. 

 

Leverage AI as a Tool, Not a Coworker 

Product security is a dynamic landscape, and AI offers both new opportunities and potential pitfalls. By understanding the rewards and risks of AI, security teams can utilize these technologies to reduce vulnerabilities and increase their effectiveness.  AI adoption, appropriately done, has the potential to transform how we tackle product security. 

Security Journey now offers specialized AI/LLM Training Paths for learners to better understand how to leverage new technologies safely within their product development. Contact our team today to see this and other topic-based learning paths.