Towards Secure AI: How far can international standards take us?

Abstract

This CETaS Research Report prepares policymakers to understand and address the significant cybersecurity challenges that have resulted from the widespread rollout of AI, with a specific focus on the role played by international standards. Our findings indicate that many of the challenges associated with securing AI systems are not new and can be resolved by updating existing cybersecurity standards. However, several challenges are new and evolving rapidly, such as those relating to the security of AI supply chains and new threats which have emerged in the context of generative AI. Standards development organisations (SDOs) have begun to introduce international standards which help protect AI systems from attack, but these standards are at a nascent stage. We recommend governments redouble their efforts to support SDOs and to ensure crucial international standards are made available and accessible to those who need to implement them. We also recommend further investment in related research to advance understandings of adversarial AI, ensuring that future international standards don’t just focus on identifying vulnerabilities, but instead offer robust and specific mitigation strategies.

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