Google Gemini vs. Microsoft Copilot: These Are the Security Risks of Deploying Generative AI

Generative AI has become one of the most reliable tools for nearly every professional out there whether you are generating content or whether you are a lawyer looking up laws real quick.

That is why it becomes even more important to understand two of the most important providers of access to Generative AI in the form of Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot.

These two Generative AI assistants are widely popular across industries and they have their own advantages and disadvantages.

However, we are not here to look for that because we are here for something even more important. We are here to look at the security risks involved in using these AI assistants.

We will find out how these economic giants utilise your information and if you should trust them with your important work and the kind of data access you can provide them without causing privacy issues.

When we say industry giants, they are truly ruling the industry because Google Gemini itself has clocked up nearly 500 million users by June of 2024.

And while Microsoft Copilot does not have as many users as Gemini AI or ChatGPT but it is rising at an equally popular rate with the other AI assistants.

Users utilise these AI assistants mostly for productivity purposes which includes things like research and content creation and users even utilise these AI assistants for entertainment purposes as well.

If you would like to know how much these AI assistants are being used daily then you are going to find that users have millions of conversations daily with them.

The important question to understand now is what are these Generative AI assistants when we talk about Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot.

Let us understand these AI assistants before we move want to the security risks involved in using them.

What Is Google Gemini?

Gemini AI is Google’s attempt at Generative AI in the form of its own Large Language Models (LLMs) and it is actually part of their initiative called DeepMind.

Gemini can be used for individual use cases which can work like any other AI assistant and can help you with creativity and problem-solving generative answers.

Gemini is also available for Google Workspace and brings a little bit more capability by integrating itself into Google’s multiple products such as Gmail, Sheets etc.

When it comes to using Gemini, you can do everything from asking it to write something or even asking it to create an image or help you with organising something.

This is quite helpful when it comes to productivity and also adds a bit more functionality with its multiple plans because there is the simple Gemini you get on your phone and then there are the business and enterprise versions.

The best part about using Google Gemini is that it has excellent support and integration with Google’s existing cloud infrastructure.

What Is Microsoft Copilot?

Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft’s version of a Generative AI assistant and it can assist you with everything from email drafting to document creation as well as data analysis.

You can use the free version of it if you have a Windows PC and you can even use it on your smartphone with a Microsoft account.

However, the most powerful version of Copilot is Copilot for Microsoft 365 paid enterprise and business version.

This version has excellent compatibility with Microsoft apps in the form of Excel as well as PowerPoint, Word, Teams and every other Microsoft app that is used for work-related tasks.

Copilot helps you become a power user when it comes to Microsoft apps as you can do everything from creating presentations to getting amazing suggestions and shortcuts for improved productivity.

Copilot coupled with Microsoft 365 is just as well integrity with the entire productivity ecosystem as is the case with Google’s Gemini.

Security Risks of Generative AI Assistants

Before we continue with the security risks, we would like to tell you that the risks mentioned for each of these AI assistants can be applicable to the other one as well.

We have decided to include them for a particular assistant simply because there are more cases of that particular security risk for that assistant.

For example, when we talk about the point about ethical concerns under Microsoft Copilot, these ethical concerns are also an issue with Gemini.

Gemini AI

Data /Privacy Issues

One of the biggest concerns with Gemini is that it collects a lot of user information and this can be information in the form of feedback, location data or even something as serious as company information.

If you are planning on using this assistant for enterprise productivity reasons then you need to understand that AI assistants work on collecting data in order to improve themselves and that data might be confidential information of your company.

Sometimes users accidentally input sensitive company data in conversations and that might get into the training data which means your company data will always be there on Gemini servers.

Prompt Injection Attacks

Gemini is just not advanced yet to ignore sensitive data which means you can string together combinations of prompts in order to get it to reveal sensitive data.

This is one of the most dangerous security risks posed by Gemini and if you think about how it is being used in integration with Google Workspace then you can understand that this can be used by attackers to gain access to valuable company data.

While Gemini engineers are working around the clock to patch something like this, it is still not fixed yet.

AI Misinformation

AI models such as Gemini can suffer from something called ‘hallucination’ which means it is not able to distinguish real information from misleading information.

What's concerning about the situation is that people can use Gemini for important business operations and get answers in the form of misleading content and try and use that faulty content for making important business decisions.

This can have serious consequences for individuals and most importantly enterprises as Gemini can be used to create fictional content that might have real implications worldwide.

However, this is not just limited to text as Gemini can be used to create any kind of content that is false and misleading and it can have serious consequences.

System Prompt Leakage

When you have a complex tool at your disposal that is very powerful, you do not want everyone to gain access to how it works and the instructions used to guide the model.

This is exactly one of the most serious vulnerabilities of Gemini.

Gemini as of now can be attacked to bypass its restrictions in order to gain access to something like system prompts. This can be reverse-engineered to understand how Gemini works thereby paving the way for more accurate misuse.

This can be then used to gain access to sensitive information such as passwords with the help of a synonym attack.

What’s more concerning is that the creativity of these attacks can be fine-tuned an infinite number of times by attackers and it will be very difficult for an LLM to protect against these attacks because these are being carried on just with prompts.

Microsoft Copilot

Privacy Concerns

When it comes to privacy concerns Copilot also has a lot of issues and this becomes even more concerning when you understand that Copilot is far more integrated into business systems with the help of Microsoft 365.

This ensures that company critical data is always accessible to Copilot and this includes data about company operations as well as sensitive client data.

While there are steps that can be taken by enterprises to ensure sensitive data is not inserted within Copilot but humans make mistakes and that can lead to company data leaks.

This can be stopped by controlling company data permissions when it comes to utilising AI assistants. We must understand that enterprises simply cannot ignore AI assistants and they just need to be more careful on how they plan on using assistants.

Accidental Data Leaks

One of the biggest concerns with Copilot is accidental data leaks and this is such a prominent issue that the US Congress has banned the use of Microsoft Copilot.

Accidental leaks happen when employees of an organisation accidentally upload sensitive data that stands the risk of remaining forever in the servers of the AI model.

This is one of the issues with Copilot simply because of how well it is integrated with Windows systems and apps.

While government agencies and enterprises can request Microsoft to create a more privacy-focused version of Copilot but it remains to be seen how Microsoft implements it.

AI-Generated Content Malicious Use

Generating false content through AI has become a piece of cake with the help of Generative AI assistants like Microsoft Copilot.

Generative AI practically lets you create anything from your imagination and it is just as simple as inputting a simple prompt.

It’s a very helpful tool for individuals and enterprises if they want to create high-quality content but now imagine how dangerous it can be in the wrong hands.

When you have the power to create anything just from words you can exploit that system to do a lot of harm and while Copilot’s systems will block you from creating anything graphic but when you ask it to create something harmless in terms of how graphic it is, it can still be quite dangerous.

AI System Overdependency

When you have a system like Microsoft Copilot being implemented very deeply into something like Microsoft 365, you become over-dependent on a system.

This is bad simply because it can create a single point of failure when it comes to important business operations.

If your AI assistants do not produce answers and do not produce results for you then that can risk halting the operations of your entire enterprise.

This kind of system is very bad for business without any kind of redundancy and especially when you use something like Microsoft 365 for all your business operations.

Compliance Risks

Microsoft Copilot is used by educational institutions as well as business enterprises and government agencies alike.

However, we must understand that every kind of organisation and enterprise is governed by multiple types of regulatory and compliance laws that are there in place to protect sensitive data and the data of users.

The problem with a system like Microsoft Copilot is that in a closed system such as a single enterprise account, a single Copilot account might be able to bypass the partitions between different users without having the proper access.

This is usually done so that the AI assistant can produce better results but it is violating a number of protocols that are there in place for a reason.

Studies have found that Copilot still has issues with something like this.

We hope this blog helps you understand the key security concerns with two of the most popular AI assistants in existence.

We understand that they might ring alarm bells for any kind of organisation planning on using them but with careful due diligence and careful implementation, you do not really need to worry about data leaks or accidental data leaks or anything more serious.

If you are someone who is looking to implement AI into your business operations and if you are planning on drastically improving your organisation's productivity then we are here for you.

We are Think To Share IT Solutions and we are the premiere name when it comes to AI implementation and utilisation solutions. We are among the pioneers of custom AI implementation solutions.

We welcome you to visit our website and check out everything we do and we would love to help you with all your AI implementation needs as well as any other IT need.