Public sector workers are sweating over AI security threats

Nearly a third of public sector IT professionals are seriously concerned about the security dangers of AI, especially the risks around data privacy and compliance.

While AI adoption is gaining momentum, with predictive analytics and issue detection seen as the top benefits, there are lingering concerns, according to a SolarWinds survey.

Nearly a quarter of respondents said they were leveraging AI to automate tasks related to IT operations and enhance IT observability, with many more planning to adopt it soon.

However, almost three-in-ten said they were extremely or very concerned about the potential risks associated with adopting AI, such as data privacy and compliance.

This, researchers warned, is making full-scale implementation a slow process, leaving the public sector lagging behind.

"It is only by providing the right tools, with full visibility, that we ensure the security and resilience of our nation’s critical services," said Richard Giblin, SolarWinds' head of UK public sector and defence.

Broader security issues plague the public sector

In addition to AI-related security risks, public sector workers also flagged a number of key concerns looking ahead.

Budgets were the biggest hurdle to improving cybersecurity, according to SolarWinds, cited by a quarter of those who took part.

One-in-five complained of the complexity of the internal environment, 11% of a lack of technical solutions, and one-in-ten of competing priorities.

For most organizations, digital transformation was a work in progress, with only 6% reporting that they'd fully completed their digital transformation journey.

Four-in-ten said their efforts were well underway, or beginning implementation in some areas with limited progress (40%).

Privacy and security concerns, as well as the complexity of integrating new systems, were key barriers, they said, while the most pressing current security challenges included vulnerabilities in monitoring systems and the critical need to safeguard sensitive information from cyber threats.

The survey found that the top-ranked security threat was careless or untrained insiders, cited by 56% of respondents - compared with 55% who rated the general cyber criminal community as more dangerous. Similarly, just over half were most concerned about foreign governments.

This, SolarWinds said, emphasized the need for stronger security awareness training, enhanced tools, and better access control mechanisms.

"It’s clear that UK public sector organisations are shifting operations and workloads to the cloud and embracing hybrid IT environments now more than ever," Giblin said.

"But this evolution, along with increased AI adoption, brings added complexity in maintaining data security and regulatory compliance, all while navigating increasingly tight budgets."

The UK public sector experiences frequent cyber attacks, including the October 2023 ransomware attack on the British Library and a supply chain attack hit the Ministry of Defence last year.

A report from Verizon late last year found that insider threats accounted for three-in-ten breaches in the public sector.

Additionally, nearly seven-in-ten were caused by a non-malicious human action, such as a worker falling victim to a social engineering attack or making an error.

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