Cisco wants to utilize AI to keep your new applications and data safe

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Cisco reveals new tool to keep business AI apps safe
Cisco AI Defense looks to address risks in developing and deploying secure AI applications
AI Defense is “self-optimizing” and will improve over time, Cisco says

Cisco has unveiled a new solution aimed at helping businesses build, deploy, and secure, Artificial Intelligence-powered (AI) applications.

The company says Cisco AI Defense addresses two key risks - developing, and deploying, secure AI applications.

According to Cisco, enterprises are set to develop “hundreds, if not thousands” of AI applications. They cannot afford separate sets of AI security and safety guardrails for each app - they need a unified approach.

Multiple capabilities

Cisco says AI Defense’s capabilities include discovering AI (giving security teams insight into who is building applications, and which training sources they use), model validation (minimizing the risk of model tuning turning toxic through automated testing), runtime security (continuous validation which safeguards against potential safety and security threats such as prompt injection), and securing access to AI applications.

The company says AI Defense is “self-optimizing”, delivering controls for a multi-model world. Furthermore, it integrates with existing data flows, and is built into Security Cloud, Cisco’s cross-domain security platform.

The new tool will become available to enterprises in March 2025.

"Business and technology leaders can’t afford to sacrifice safety for speed when embracing AI,” said Jeetu Patel, Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer, Cisco. "In a dynamic landscape where competition is fierce, speed decides the winners. Fused into the fabric of the network, Cisco AI Defense combines the unique ability to detect and protect against threats when developing and accessing AI applications without tradeoffs.”

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Sead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he’s written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He’s also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications.