CEOs: Act Now on AI Risks

Be bold and brave. The time to be bold and brave is now, in the era of AIism.

It’s All About You

Welcome to the first edition of this weekly newsletter! This edition will give you an overview or outline of what to expect every week.

Most importantly, this newsletter is about you and for you. We have 23 weeks remaining in 2024 – let’s do this!

As much as I am delighted to try new LLM models and learn new use cases for generative AI, my intention is for you to gain useful knowledge and perspective on how the technology can help or harm people and your business while acknowledging the need for training and guardrails to ensure the benefits outweigh the risks.

My role is to guide you on aligning your AI and cyber risk strategies rather than replace your people, specifically the legal or security teams. Your people and the human factor remain vital in the AI cybersecurity equation.

If you learn something here, please share. If I miss the mark, please share that too. The idea is open dialogue, not a lecture, and making each new edition better than the last one by answering your questions.

In my recent LinkedIn video challenge, I coined “AIism” to capture how AI benefits and risks run alongside innovation. The era of AIism is unique, requiring us to expand our knowledge of the best way to use the latest AI tools while challenging us to maintain cybersecurity measures and cyber resilience planning. ?

CEOs

Looking at potential risks when implementing new business processes and procedures is not new. Case in point, AI in cybersecurity is not new. It is often used in automated threat detection systems. CEOs are concerned about the unknown in this recent AI evolution.

At the same time, the numbers tell a story. According to a recent Fortune/Deloitte survey on Generative AI for CEOs,?79% of CEOS are implementing or likely to implement Generative AI to accelerate innovation.

At a recent lunch with CEOs, we discussed the pros and cons of generative AI, deep learning, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, and how a rush to judgment could negatively impact business down the road.

Of course, competitive advantage matters. As leaders, their vision includes the desire to make their company better able to serve their clients and to avoid becoming caught up in the hype -- the fear of missing out.

The most pressing issue for CEOs appeared to be how and when to integrate generative AI into their company to achieve business objectives while protecting their brand reputation if there is an incident involving data collection, use, storage, deletion, or unauthorized disclosure.

Have you considered the pros and cons of generative AI as you make decisions that could disrupt your business? These decisions could be some of the most impactful in your career.

PLAN Framework

PLAN is an acronym for a framework to underscore purpose, leadership, and action, taken now. It is simple, clear, and essential.

At the intersection of AI and cyber risks, you need to PLAN, which means:

Purpose: CEOs’ deliberate intentions in addressing AI opportunities and risks. ?

Leadership: CEOs’ leadership in navigating the complexities of AI and driving meaningful change.

Action: CEOs’ actions aligned with their intention to balance the pros and cons of AI integration.

Now: CEOs' focus on the urgency of addressing AI opportunities and risks now.

The PLAN framework will run through every newsletter.?

Four Corners

The Four Corners will highlight AI benefits and risks.

Emerging Tech Risk Corner

Current and future ethical concerns, regulatory landscapes, and strategies for mitigating AI and cyber risks associated with generative AI, deep learning, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.

Talent Corner

Efforts to bridge the AI skills gap, integrate AI technologies into the workforce, and retain talent through innovative strategies.

STEM Corner

Progress made or needed in STEM education reform, diversity and inclusion efforts, and partnerships promoting AI readiness in education.

Art With Heart Corner

Keep the heart in the arts, leveraging AI for positive change, while addressing ethical considerations in artistic expression, creativity, and rights.

Emerging Risk Corner

Let’s kick off the Emerging Risk Corner with a real scenario.

Are you a decision-maker ready to delegate tasks during your summer holiday?

If so, have you prepared your team?

Here’s what happened in real life, in real-time.

Fraudsters tricked a finance worker in Hong Kong into paying them $25 million.

How? It happened during a video conference.

The entire video call was staged, like live theater (not a deepfake recorded video).

The fraudsters used deepfake technology to pose as the company’s Chief Financial Officer on

the video conference call.

Although the employee grew suspicious about the message from the CFO, involving

a secret transaction, he completed the $25m transaction because several other staff members

were on the call.

It turns out that everyone he saw was fake.

He discovered the scam later when he checked with the corporate head office.

Why didn't he double-check beforehand?

Hong Kong police did not reveal the name or details of the company or the worker, but

made six arrests concerning these video scams.

How would you handle losing $25 million?

Vishing may involve an elaborate video scam that occurs in real-time.

Vishing should be on your list of concerns.

?Why Me?

As an AI strategist, I demystify the intersection of AI and cyber risks through a legal lens.

I am an accomplished emerging risk expert with a law degree and over 25 years of global management experience, including advising clients, brokers, and colleagues at Fortune 500 companies and startups, helping dozens of companies develop cyber resilience strategies through advisory work, requests for proposals, speaking engagements, and publications.

For twelve years, I focused on cyber risks. I never imagined we would have the era of AIism, requiring us to reassess business strategies, cybersecurity, cyber resilience planning, and insurance coverage.

I provide a global perspective from twelve years working abroad on environmental and product liability risks, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, and necessary crisis management, disaster planning, response, and recovery steps.

I’ve given talks around the globe, beginning in Philadelphia, then abroad in London, Cologne, Zurich, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, South Korea, and South Africa, and then back in the States in Chicago and South Florida.?

During COVID-19, as the Founder and CEO of The Cyber Dawn , I offered online cybersecurity awareness training to small businesses, associations, educational institutions, and lifelong learners.

In South Florida during the pandemic, I wrote the award-winning book?33 WAYS NOT TO SCREW UP CYBERSECURITY . My book focuses on the human factor in cyber risk offering ways to effectively detect, prevent, and recover from cybercrime such as ransomware attacks, insider threats, and fraudulent wire transfers. The Emerging Trends & Risks chapter discusses artificial intelligence and machine learning, emphasizing that AI cannot replace cybersecurity professionals and the advantages and disadvantages of AI in cybersecurity. ?Watch for an update on AI cybersecurity in the re-release of my book.

Upon returning home to Chicago, I became laser-focused on AI, which has been used for years in cybersecurity, now with fresh security concerns about LLMs.

I am excited about speaking at live events, lunch and learns, and workshops, and offering my book to attendees. Based on the evidence of bad actors using AI tools to be more convincing and increase the efficiency of cybercrime, the need to understand the human factor in cybersecurity is more important than ever.

I believe that there is hope.

Call To Action

CEOs do not let the shiny new toy distract you. Efficiency at the cost of security is of no value to you. The risks and costs are too high. The value is you, your people, your clients, and your business. Will you risk it all for a shiny new toy?

Learning and upskilling apply to everyone. The time for you to learn is now before you integrate an LLM into your business or create your own ChatGPT in-house.

Does your company know how to avoid litigation caused by unintentional data leakage by someone on your team? ?Are you protecting your crown jewels, your sensitive data and intellectual property? Are you and your team ready for vishing in real-time?

My goal is to help your company maintain a competitive advantage from AI, not suffer a loss due to AI. It is time to leverage responsible AI to gain benefits with reduced risks. I train and consult on clarifying and aligning your strategies while demystifying emerging AI and cyber risks through a legal lens.

It’s time for a full-court press to protect your brand reputation from disruption.

You are welcome to book a consultation on implementing AI cybersecurity in your business strategies.

Thanks for your time,

Dawn