Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

Top tips is a weekly column where we highlight what’s trending in the tech world today and list ways to explore these trends. This week, we’re discussing the rise of AI tools in the workplace—and the growing risks around their unregulated use. It started quietly. A few employees using ChatGPT to rewrite emails. A project manager testing Notion AI to summarize meetings. A developer relying on GitHub Copilot to speed up code. Now?

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, generative AI has emerged as a transformative force. From automating workflows to enhancing creative processes, businesses across industries are leveraging this technology to stay competitive. However, with innovation comes risk. As generative AI becomes more accessible, cybercriminals are also finding ways to exploit it.

Today, the average phishing email that lands in your CEO's inbox is flawless. It uses perfect grammar, contains an intimate understanding of your organization’s current business landscape, and ends with an urgent, contextually relevant request. This isn't the work of a typical cybercriminal; it's the hallmark of generative AI being weaponized, transforming social engineering from a numbers game into a targeted strike.

In AI, as with so many advancing technologies, security often lags innovation. The xAI incident, during which a sensitive API key remained exposed for nearly two months, is a stark reminder of this disconnect. Such oversights not only jeopardize proprietary technologies but also highlight systemic vulnerabilities in API management. As more organizations integrate AI into their operations, ensuring robust API security has never been more critical.

Recently we released the Splunk App for Data Science and Deep Learning (DSDL) v5.2.0. This update introduced new features for integrating large language models (LLMs) and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG). With DSDL v5.2.0, users can easily perform LLM prompts, vector searches, RAG, and function calling directly from the app's dashboards.

How should data security teams walk the fine line between enabling AI innovation, safeguarding sensitive data, and ensuring compliance? That question drives everything we build at Nightfall. It’s also an excellent jumping off point for an in-depth discussion among security experts.

Firewall policy management has reached a critical point, characterized by misconfigurations, overly complex rules, and ongoing audits. The burden continues to fall on already-stretched security teams. For CISOs, the question isn’t whether policies are being enforced; it’s whether they’re aligned, effective, and resilient across every location and environment.