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Showing posts with label Workplace Security. Show all posts
Workplace Security
AI Chatbots ChatGPT safety cybersecurity risks Data Privacy Sensitive Information Technology Workplace Security

Britons Risk Privacy by Sharing Sensitive Data with AI Chatbots Despite Security Concerns

 

Nearly one in three individuals in the UK admits to sharing confidential personal details with AI chatbots, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, according to new research by cybersecurity firm NymVPN. The study reveals that 30% of Britons have disclosed sensitive data—including banking information and health records—to AI tools, potentially endangering their own privacy and that of others.

Despite 48% of respondents expressing concerns over the safety of AI chatbots, many continue to reveal private details. This habit extends to professional settings, where employees are reportedly sharing internal company and customer information with these platforms.

The findings come amid a wave of high-profile cyberattacks, including the recent breach at Marks & Spencer, which underscores how easily confidential data can be compromised. NymVPN reports that 26% of survey participants have entered financial details related to salaries, mortgages, and investments, while 18% have exposed credit card or bank account numbers. Additionally, 24% acknowledged sharing customer data—such as names and email addresses—and 16% uploaded company financial records and contracts.

“AI tools have rapidly become part of how people work, but we’re seeing a worrying trend where convenience is being prioritized over security,” said Harry Halpin, CEO of NymVPN.

Organizations such as M&S, Co-op, and Adidas have already made headlines for data breaches. “High-profile breaches show how vulnerable even major organizations can be, and the more personal and corporate data that is fed into AI, the bigger the target becomes for cybercriminals,” Halpin added.

With nearly a quarter of people admitting to sharing customer data with AI tools, experts emphasize the urgent need for businesses to establish strict policies governing AI usage at work.

“Employees and businesses urgently need to think about how they’re protecting both personal privacy and company data when using AI tools,” Halpin warned.

Completely avoiding AI chatbots might be the safest option, but it’s not always realistic. Users are advised to refrain from entering sensitive information, adjust privacy settings by disabling chat history, or opt out of model training.

Using a VPN can provide an additional layer of online privacy by encrypting internet traffic and masking IP addresses when accessing AI chatbots like ChatGPT. However, even with a VPN, risks remain if individuals continue to input confidential data.
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Workplace Security
Artificial Intelligence Cyber Security Data Leak Tech Giant Third Party Apps Workplace Security

Amazon Issues ‘Warning’ For Employees Using AI At Work

 

A leaked email to employees revealed Amazon's guidelines for using third-party GenAI tools at work. 

Business Insider claims that the email mandates employees to refrain from using third-party software due to data security concerns.

“While we may find ourselves using GenAl tools, especially when it seems to make life easier, we should be sure not to use it for confidential Amazon work,” the email reads. “Don’t share any confidential Amazon, customer, or employee data when you’re using 3rd party GenAl tools. Generally, confidential data would be data that is not publicly available.” 

This is not the first time that Amazon has had to remind employees. A company lawyer advised employees not to provide ChatGPT with "any Amazon confidential information (including Amazon code you are working on)" in a letter dated January 20, 2023.

The warning was issued due to concerns that these types of third-party resources may claim ownership over the information that workers exchange, leading to future output that might involve or resemble confidential data. "There have already been cases where the results closely align with pre-existing material," the lawyer stated at the time. 

Over half of employees are using GenAI without permission from their employer, according to Salesforce research, and seven out of ten employees are using AI without receiving training on its safe or ethical use. Merely 17% of American industries own vaguely defined AI policies. In sectors like healthcare, where 87% of worldwide workers report that their employer lacks a clear policy on AI use, the issue is particularly noticeable. 

Employers and HR departments need to have greater insight into how their staff members are utilising AI in order to ensure that they are using it carefully.
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Workplace Security
Business Cyber Security Employee Security Workplace Security

Four-Day Working Week: A Cybersecurity Challenge or New Opportunity?


Four-day working: A new challenge?

The new year brings a window for change. As we set resolutions and decide to build good habits, the companies are also carefully taking steps in which they can improve their work and functioning. 

Recently, many of these goals are focused around improving the employee experience (EX). From emerging onboarding processes and promoting candid communications, to making a process of authentic and meaningful performance reviews, companies following a proactive approach to EX have made a great number of advancements in the past few years. 

As recession looms over and the skills gap is growing further, EX is a trend that will only keep gaining momentum as business leaders find innovative ways in which to attract and keep top talent. 

How can a four-day working week help cybersecurity?

To date, shorter working weeks are being used as a trial by a large number of enterprises. Non-profit 4 Day Week Global in October 2022 announced that it had provided help to 60 North American firms cumulatively getting over 4,000 people to make the shift to a four-day working week. 

From lower costs to happier employees, the possible benefits are obvious. And while employees' well-being is mostly at the core of the 4-day week, the fact that there's no pay loss with such initiatives tells us there would not be any dampening of expectations with association to employee performance and output. '

In this matter, a 4-day working week will probably mean stuffing 40-hour workloads into 32-feasible for some, but a reason for worry in cases where this is simply not realistic. 

Risks associated with a four-day working week?

There is a major challenge that such a drastic change could actually add to the threat of exhaustion among those employees looking to find relief in high-pressure work environments, making responsibilities sweep away under the rug in areas where there's no room for cutting corners. 

With the same responsibilities and not much time to complete them, organizations will have to give something away- not the core activities based upon which an employee's individual performance is measured. But, security practices will soon start to get affected and will fall behind, and employees will be pressurized due to working in a shorter week. 

Tech Radar reports "Now more than ever before, it is critical that sound security practices are not undermined. The COVID-19 pandemic brought about years of change in the ways in which companies operate. According to a 2020 McKinsey Global Survey of executives, organizations accelerated the digitization of their customer and supply-chain interactions as well as their internal operations by three to four years in the space of just a few months. And that trajectory only continued through 2021 and 2022."
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