Rapid developments in artificial intelligence could help strengthen defences against security threats in cyberspace, according to the Chief Executive Officer of Google, Sundar Pichai.

According to CNBC, amid growing concerns about the potentially nefarious uses of AI, Pichai said that the intelligence tools could help governments and companies speed up the detection of — and response to — threats from hostile actors.

“We are right to be worried about the impact on cybersecurity. But AI, I think actually, counterintuitively, strengthens our defence on cybersecurity,” Pichai told delegates at Munich Security Conference at the end of last week.

Cybersecurity attacks have been growing in volume and sophistication as malicious actors increasingly use them as a way to exert power and extort money.

Cyberattacks cost the global economy an estimated $8tn in 2023 — a sum that is set to rise to $10.5tn by 2025, according to cyber research firm Cybersecurity Ventures.

A January report from Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre — part of GCHQ, the country’s intelligence agency — said that AI would only increase those threats, lowering the barriers to entry for cyber hackers and enabling more malicious cyber activity, including ransomware attacks.

“AI disproportionately helps the people defending because you’re getting a tool which can impact it at scale.

However, Pichai said that AI was also lowering the time needed for defenders to detect attacks and react against them. He said this would reduce what’s known as the defenders’ dilemma, whereby cyberhackers have to be successful just once in a system whereas a defender has to be successful every time to protect it.

“AI disproportionately helps the people defending because you’re getting a tool which can impact it at scale versus the people who are trying to exploit,” he said.

“So, in some ways, we are winning the race,” he added.

Google last week announced a new initiative offering AI tools and infrastructure investments designed to boost online security. A free, open-source tool dubbed Magika aims to help users detect malware — malicious software — the company said in a statement, while a white paper proposes measures and research and creates guardrails around AI.

Pichai said the tools were already being put to use in the company’s products, such as Google Chrome and Gmail, as well as its internal systems.

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TECHDIGEST – Amazon on Wednesday offered commitments to the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority after Britain’s competition watchdog raised concerns about the U.S. e-commerce giant’s treatment of third-party sellers.

According to CNBC, the CMA said the remedies offered by Amazon, if accepted, would address its competition concerns as part of an investigation that began just over a year ago.

In July 2022, the CMA opened a probe into Amazon alleging it was abusing its strong market position by giving an unfair advantage to its own retail business and sellers that use its services over third-party merchants on its marketplace.

The CMA on Wednesday said Amazon has offered a number of commitments.

One of those commitments proposes to ensure Amazon does not use rival sellers’ marketplace data to gain an unfair advantage over other sellers. The CMA had raised concerns that Amazon’s access to “commercially sensitive data” relating to third-party sellers could give the e-commerce giant an advantage in deciding which products to sell and how to set prices.

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Amazon’s commitments also proposed to guarantee all product offers are treated equally when the company decides which ones will be featured in the “Buy Box.” This is an area on Amazon’s product pages that gives customers a one-click option to “Buy Now” or “Add to Basket.”

The CMA is concerned that products sold by third-party sellers were less likely to appear in the “Buy Box” than Amazon’s own products.

Amazon offered to allow third-party sellers to negotiate their own rates directly with providers of Amazon’s Prime delivery service, according to the CMA.

As part of the proposals to the CMA, Amazon will be required to appoint an independent trustee to monitor the company’s compliance with its commitments to the regulator. The CMA will have a “direct say” in this appointment.

“Amazon’s commitments to the CMA will help ensure that third-party sellers on Amazon Marketplace can compete on a level-playing field against Amazon’s own retail business and, ultimately, mean that customers in the UK get a better deal,” Ann Pope, senior director for enforcement at the CMA, said in a press release.

Vanguard

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