Can My Model Be Hacked? Understanding and Mitigating Security Vulnerabilities within LLMs

In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, Large Language Models (LLMs) are demonstrating to be both revolutionary and vulnerable. 

During the NVIDIA GTC event 2024 at San Jose in March, our co-founder Peter Garraghan delivered a presentation titled "Can My Model Be Hacked? Understanding and Mitigating Security Vulnerabilities within LLMs." Download presentation below or watch the recording here!

This sheds light on the critical and often overlooked aspect of AI security, emphasizing the importance of understanding and mitigating potential threats within these advanced models.

Key Takeaways:

1. LLMs are exposed to various new and established security risks.
2. The challenge of securing your LLMs will intensify over time.
3. Securing LLMs remains a crucial component of the SDLC and service procurement.
4. Update your governance, tooling, processes, and playbooks, and conduct regular training sessions for your security teams. 

The presentation covers the security vulnerabilities in LLMs, explaining how attackers can exploit these weaknesses to disrupt services, leak sensitive data, or reverse-engineer the capabilities of an LLM. These attacks can be carried out at just a small fraction of the original development cost. These risks are not just theoretical; real-world scenarios where LLMs have been targeted emphasize the urgent need to develop robust security measures.

One of the main reasons for these security vulnerabilities is their complexity. This talk also dives into how they occur, and why they are challenging to overcome. The dynamic and complex behavior of LLMs makes them particularly vulnerable to sophisticated attacks that can be initiated through regular user interactions. This presents a significant risk to organizations relying on AI for critical operations and data management, making it vital to stay ahead of potential threats.

Learn how businesses can mitigate and manage their AI security risks. Best practices and emerging strategies to safeguard LLMs were discussed, ensuring they remain reliable and secure.

This presentation will be beneficial for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of AI security and protect their organisation from the evolving threats in the AI landscape.

About Peter Garraghan 

Dr. Peter Garraghan is CEO & CTO of Mindgard, Professor in Computer Science at Lancaster University, and fellow of the UK Engineering Physical Sciences and Research Council (EPSRC). He is an internationally recognised expert in AI security, Peter has dedicated years of scientific and engineering expertise to create bleeding-edge technology to understand and overcome growing threats against AI. He has raised over €11.6 million in research funding and published over 60 scientific papers.

About Mindgard 

Mindgard is a cybersecurity company specializing in security for AI.
Founded in 2022 at world-renowned Lancaster University and is now based in London, Mindgard empowers enterprise security teams to deploy AI and GenAI securely. Mindgard’s core product – born from ten years of rigorous R&D in AI security – offers an automated platform for continuous security testing and red teaming of AI.

In 2023, Mindgard secured $4 million in funding, backed by leading investors such as IQ Capital and Lakestar.

Next Steps

Thank you for taking the time to explore Peter's presentation from NVIDIA GTC 2024 event.

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