Topic(s)
- Business operations improvement
Overview
Artificial intelligence, or “AI,” is all the rage and is touted to change the way we (fill in the blank________________). It seems to be appearing everywhere and in everything, whether we like it or not. Manufacturing is noted as the number one targeted industry by cybercriminals. Will AI lead to improvements in cybersecurity or make protecting your assets from cyber-attacks harder? The answer depends on what you know, how you prepare and how you use AI (or not) to protect your company’s assets.
AI is supposedly changing the game for cybersecurity, analyzing massive quantities of risk data to speed response times, improving security protocols, detecting potential threats more quickly and accurately, and augmenting under-resourced manufacturing security operations. While it offers great potential for improving cybersecurity, AI also has a dark side as threat actors increasingly attempt to abuse and manipulate AI algorithms for malicious purposes. Therefore, manufacturers must be aware of the potential risks and challenges associated with its implementation.
While cyber defense must evolve at the same pace as that of attacks to protect organizations against new AI-driven cyber threats, there are still crucial issues that need to be addressed, such as privacy concerns, algorithmic biases, ethical uses, potential job displacement, compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and the responsible handling of personal data when it comes to using AI applications.
Key learning objectives
- Bad: Manufacturing is the number one industry targeted by cybercriminals.
- Bad: Manufacturing is under-resourced when it comes to adequate cybersecurity.
- Good: AI can provide a resource for manufacturing to create an effective cybersecurity program.
- Good: What are some practical applications of AI in cybersecurity?
- Ugly: While AI is developing rapidly as a cybersecurity tool, there are several crucial issues to consider in order to implement it correctly.
Company
The Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) is a program within Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute and a member of the National MEP network supported by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). With offices in ten regions across the state, GaMEP has served Georgia manufacturers since 1960. Through coaching and training, it offers solutions-based approaches designed to increase top-line growth and reduce bottom-line costs. As part of the national MEP program under NIST, it is dedicated to serving small and medium-size manufacturers and has a unique responsibility to boost Georgia’s economy by enhancing its clients’ competitiveness. https://gamep.org/
Presenter
Dr. Michael Barker serves as principal research faculty – cybersecurity within the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) area of the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2) at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He uses his more than 40 years of advanced technology experience to help small to medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) achieve compliance with various governance, risk and compliance (GRC) requirements, primarily in the Defense Industrial Base (DIB). Until 2022, Barker was the first director of the TSYS Cybersecurity Center in the TSYS Department of Computer Science at Columbus State University (CSU). While at CSU, he developed more than 39 cybersecurity-specific academic courses and three newly accredited degree programs, including a B.S. in Cybersecurity and a B.B.A. in Cybersecurity Management. Barker also developed a rapid workforce development program that turns out cyber professionals for Fortune 100 and 500 companies in the Financial Technology (FinTech) space in approximately 12 months with intense hands-on experience and five industry-recognized certifications. Before entering academia full-time in 2018, he was president of C4 Global, which he founded in 1995 to provide a wide variety of information technology (IT), GRC, cybersecurity and digital forensic services to several industry verticals. 
