Cisco Introduces AI Defense to Transform Enterprise AI Security

In a move to redefine enterprise AI security, Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), the global leader in security and networking, has announced the launch of Cisco AI Defense. This solution is designed to safeguard the AI transformation underway in enterprises.

As AI adoption across industries continues, the pace of innovation brings with it a surge of unprecedented security threats. Traditional solutions are struggling to keep up, and Cisco aims to bridge this gap by equipping businesses with the tools they need to innovate with confidence.

Jeetu Patel, Cisco’s executive vice president and chief product officer, said, “Business and technology leaders can’t afford to sacrifice safety for speed when embracing AI. In today’s fast-paced environment, speed determines the winners. Cisco AI Defense ensures enterprises can deploy AI applications without compromising security, integrating protection directly into the network fabric.”

According to Cisco’s 2024 AI Readiness Index, only 29% of organisations feel adequately prepared to detect and prevent unauthorised tampering with AI systems. With AI applications spanning multi-cloud environments and involving diverse stakeholders, from developers to end users, the risk of vulnerabilities is increasing. Proprietary data used to train models only heightens these challenges and highlights the urgent need for security measures.

Cisco AI Defense takes a two-pronged approach to enterprise AI security. The first focus is on developing and deploying secure AI applications. This includes discovery, which identifies both shadow and authorised AI applications across cloud environments, and model validation, where automated testing detects vulnerabilities using an AI-driven “algorithmic red team”. 

Additionally, runtime security ensures continuous monitoring and protection against threats such as prompt injection, denial of service, and data leaks.

The second focus is on securing access to AI applications. This involves providing visibility into all AI-enabled apps used within the enterprise, which implements access control to restrict the usage of unsanctioned AI tools and offers threat protection to safeguard sensitive data.

Cisco AI Defense offers consistent and centralised security controls for a multi-model, multi-cloud world. Its self-optimising capabilities are powered by Cisco’s proprietary machine learning models and threat intelligence from Cisco Talos.

This new offering integrates seamlessly with Cisco Security Cloud, its unified AI-driven platform, and extends enriched alerts to Splunk customers, enhancing visibility across the ecosystem. Moreover, Cisco is actively shaping industry standards in AI security, collaborating with organisations like MITRE, OWASP, and NIST.