Artificial Intelligence: 'call for views' on the cyber security of AI closes soon

Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems have the potential to bring many benefits to society. However, for the opportunities of AI to be fully realised, they must be developed, deployed and operated in a secure and responsible way.

To support this, in 2023 the NCSC published Guidelines for secure AI system development, produced with the US CISA (Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency) and co-sealed by a further 21 cyber agencies and ministries from 18 countries. The guidelines are designed to help providers build AI systems that function as intended, are available when needed, and work without revealing sensitive data to unauthorised parties.

Building on these guidelines, the UK Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) has published a Call for Views on the Cyber Security of AI. Stakeholders are invited to provide specific feedback on the proposed interventions (which comprise a set of 12 AI principles) and make recommendations regarding other policy options.

Your input can help inform UK government policy, and the development of a technical standard that will help address cyber security risks to AI. We hope that collaboration with a diverse range of stakeholders will lead to widespread adoption of AI security standards.

Alongside the public consultation, the NCSC updated its Machine learning (ML) principles in May 2024 to cover recent developments in AI such as: 

• risks to LLM systems
• the importance of supply chain security and life cycle management
• ‘security by design’ (the idea that AI/ML tools, like any software system, should be developed in a way that treats security as a core business priority)

The guidance on machine learning is just one of many resources published by the UK government, designed to help organisations make the right cyber security decisions when developing and deploying AI-based systems. If you’d like to respond to the call for views, please refer to the ‘How to respond’ section on the DSIT website.

Oli B
NCSC International Technical Standards