The European Commission has presented an Action Plan to provide a structured response to address the risks and seize the opportunities offered by advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) models for cybersecurity.
In a press release, the Commission states that “new advanced AI models are redefining cybersecurity. AI can be misused to detect vulnerabilities, automate attacks, and increase the magnitude and speed of cyber incidents at an unprecedented rate. Based on the EU’s unique legal framework on AI and cybersecurity, the Action Plan will bring together Member States, industry, and EU organizations to strengthen the cybersecurity of our digital environment against the vulnerabilities posed by advanced AI.”
“Effective security,” continues the note, “requires a deep understanding of how new technologies can be used correctly, misused, or exploited. Under the Artificial Intelligence Regulation, advanced AI models must be assessed, and mitigation measures must be carefully weighed before such models are introduced into the EU market. In order to foster expertise in our territory, the Commission will launch a specific call to create an EU assessment capacity that encompasses cybersecurity, which is expected to be operational by 2027. This new capacity will contribute to the regulatory function of the AI Office by strengthening the independent assessment of AI capabilities and risks on a global scale.”
The Commission will work with the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) to define a European plan for structured access to advanced AI capabilities for cybersecurity. These guidelines will serve to enable relevant European organizations, both public and private, to access advanced AI models.
ENISA and the Commission’s Joint Research Centre will create a secure platform to test AI applied to cybersecurity, which will include the use of simulated environments. This will provide technical knowledge on the safe use of AI to operators in critical sectors such as finance, energy, health, transport, and public administration.
To stimulate the growth of the European market, the note from the European Commission states that it “will launch the ‘EU Grand Challenge on AI for Cybersecurity’. This competition will bring together companies, researchers, and organizations with the aim of developing artificial intelligence solutions for cybersecurity.
