Maximizing the Benefits of ChatGPT While Minimizing Risk

How ChatGPT Can Benefit Organizations

ChatGPT can benefit organizations by improving communication, increasing productivity, enhancing team collaboration, and by being cost-effective and easy to use. This can result in the following:

• Improved communication—ChatGPT can provide a real-time messaging platform that enables employees to collaborate and share information quickly and easily.
• Increased productivity—ChatGPT can reduce the need for emails or meetings. Employees can communicate and collaborate on projects more efficiently, saving time and increasing efficiency.
• Enhanced team collaboration—ChatGPT can enable employees to work together in real-time, regardless of their location. This can improve teamwork and facilitate knowledge sharing, leading to better outcomes for the organization.
• Reduced costs—ChatGPT is often more cost-effective than other communication methods like phone calls or video conferencing. This can help organizations save money on communication expenses.
• Ease of use—ChatGPT employs intuitive interfaces and features that require little to no training. This can help organizations save time and resources on training employees.

Benefits of DLP Protection in ChatGPT

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is a security strategy that organizations employ to protect sensitive and confidential data from unauthorized access, use, or dissemination. This strategy involves implementing controls, policies, and technologies that monitor, detect, and prevent the accidental or intentional transmission of sensitive data outside the organization's network. 

One common way that sensitive data can be lost or leaked is through chat platforms like ChatGPT. Organizations can use DLP software and other tools such as encryption, access controls, two-factor authentication, and user training to prevent sensitive or proprietary information from being divulged while still allowing users access to LLMs like ChatGPT.

Utilizing DLP with ChatGPT can benefit organizations by:

• Preventing data leaks—One of the primary benefits of implementing DLP protection in ChatGPT is that it helps prevent data leaks. With DLP, sensitive data such as confidential company information, trade secrets, customer data, and personally identifiable information (PII) can be monitored and prevented from being transmitted outside the organization's network.
• Mitigating risks—DLP protection helps to mitigate the risks associated with data loss. By implementing DLP controls, organizations can identify and prevent sensitive data from being shared with unauthorized parties. This reduces the risks of data breaches, theft, or loss of sensitive information, which can have severe consequences for organizations.
• Maintaining compliance—Many industries are subject to data privacy and protection regulations. DLP protection in ChatGPT ensures that organizations meet these regulations by preventing the unauthorized sharing of sensitive data. This protects the organization from fines, legal action, or damage to their reputation.
• Protecting intellectual property—Intellectual property is a valuable asset for organizations, and it needs to be protected from unauthorized access or sharing. DLP protection in ChatGPT helps to safeguard intellectual property by preventing the transmission of confidential company information, trade secrets, or other sensitive data.
• Enhancing productivity—DLP protection in ChatGPT can enhance productivity by reducing the risks of data loss or theft. This enables employees to focus on their work without worrying about sensitive data being accidentally or intentionally transmitted outside the organization's network.

Precautions to Consider for Mitigating Sensitive Data Exposure

By using zero trust techniques, the power of machine learning language models can be safely leveraged.  Organizations should not blindly trust who is authenticating or inputting data into the platform.  Rather, they should be confident that their entity can securely oversee and validate input and authentication.  By implementing the following controls, they can ensure that their sensitive data remains secure and confidential:

• Data Loss Prevention (DLP) software—As detailed above, DLP software can be used to monitor and prevent the transmission of sensitive data through ChatGPT.  It can identify sensitive information such as credit card numbers or confidential company information and prevent it from being shared outside of the organization.
• Encryption—This can be used to protect sensitive information as it is transmitted through ChatGPT. Encryption technologies can ensure that only authorized parties can access the information, preventing unauthorized access or interception.
• Access controls—These can be used to limit who has access to sensitive information within an organization. By controlling who can access information, organizations can reduce the risk of data leaks or unauthorized access.
• Two-factor authentication—This can be used to verify the identity of users accessing ChatGPT. Two-factor authentication can help to prevent unauthorized access and ensure that only authorized users are able to view or transmit sensitive information.
• User training and education—This can be used to ensure that employees are aware of the risks associated with transmitting sensitive information through ChatGPT. By educating employees on how to identify and protect sensitive information, organizations can reduce the risk of data loss or theft.
• Staff augmentation—ChatGPT can help your IT workforce shorten the gap with automation by making scripts and queries easier to replicate. In many instances you can generate automation scripts in common scripting languages such as PowerShell or python which require including almost no sensitive information in the chatbot prompts.  Some organizations are even using it for malicious code review. 
• Secondary support opinions—As with all things related to ChatGPT, not every answer should be taken for gospel. However, many support questions that would normally be found in technical documentation or Google can now be found within ChatGPT along with additional feedback.

Overall, a combination of these tools and technologies can be used to prevent sensitive or proprietary information from being divulged while allowing users to use ChatGPT. By implementing these controls, organizations can ensure that their sensitive data remains secure and confidential. 

Be aware, however. ChatGPT has now become a targeted asset. There are stolen ChatGPT credentials currently being auctioned off on the dark web due to the content of chats tied to the compromised accounts. They become a potential treasure trove of data for bad actors.  

So far, there is no evidence of a compromise of the ChatGPT platform itself.  However, there are unauthorized malware variants existing in the Android store masquerading as the ChatGPT platform, further leading to the risk of unauthorized and exposed data. This is a major data security issue that must be addressed before allowing access organization-wide to any AI platform.

Conclusion

Implementing DLP protection in ChatGPT is essential for organizations that want to safeguard their sensitive data from loss, theft, or unauthorized access. DLP protection prevents data leaks, mitigates risks, ensures compliance, protects intellectual property, and enhances productivity. With DLP controls, organizations can identify and prevent the accidental or intentional sharing of sensitive data through ChatGPT, ensuring that their data remains secure and confidential.

Editor credit:
Leigh Johnson, CGCIO
Town of Prosper, Director of I.T.
972-569-1150 | ljohnson@prospertx.gov