Navigating the Minefield of Enterprise GenAI Adoption: Microsoft 365 Copilot

In the dizzying world of enterprise technology, where innovation is king and efficiency is currency, security leaders are stuck between a rock and a hard place -  the promise of GenAI productivity tools like Microsoft 365 Copilot versus the looming threats of security and data privacy concerns. Whether enterprises dive headfirst or cautiously test the waters with these tools, security leaders find themselves grappling with the complexities of safeguarding sensitive data in an increasingly GenAI-driven landscape.

Enterprise security leaders, armed with a keen eye for risk, navigate a minefield of excessive permissions, collaborative links, and mislabeled files, all poised to detonate into unintended data exposure. As these tools can lurk in every crevice of enterprise workflows, often unseen until it’s too late, they can easily grant unauthorized access to a treasure trove of sensitive information.

Once deployed in the organization, the business benefits inherent in GenAI tools make them a fixture of the company’s work environment. Security leaders find themselves struggling to protect against suspicious real-time activity by users, whether the inadvertent output of sensitive data, IP, or just false information. Fictional or unwanted responses generated by these tools can steer organizations into faulty or illegal processes and negatively impact decision-making . Furthermore, post-deployment and with limited visibility and control, CISOs often struggle to measure the impact of their security efforts, further complicating these tools' expanded adoption and integration into regular workflows.

Although the battlefield seems daunting, forward-thinking CISOs know that security threats shouldn’t obstruct innovation - they just need to managed according to your organization's risk appetite. We’ve put together 3 steps to secure your Microsoft 365 Copilot deployment and adoption, helping you make the most out of this impressive business tool. 

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Battle Prep: Pre-deployment Assessment 

Before deployment, conduct a thorough assessment to identify potential risks and configuration issues. To get the most comprehensive insights, red-team your environment with an external 3rd party to identify and exploit vulnerabilities, access sensitive files and generate malicious prompts. At Aim Security, we lead this charge by scanning potential files for sensitive data, extracting them and providing detailed reports to stakeholders, ensuring that they have complete visibility into what data might be at risk before going live.

Continuous Monitoring 

Make sure to continuously audit all data shared and retrieved from GenAI tools, uncovering prompts that contain sensitive data or violate company policies. This doesn’t have to be a manual, labor-intensive process. Aim’s automated platform ensures that security teams are alerted on unsafe outputs, copyright violations and other illegitimate or unwanted information. 

Performance Metrics Will Keep You Alert

Following conversations with hundreds of enterprise security leaders, it’s clear to us at Aim that these leaders often lack a definitive answer to a seemingly straightforward question: “How am I doing?” Lacking industry benchmarks or even anecdotal evidence from CISO peers regarding metrics for assessment of GenAI security guardrails, it’s hard for security leaders to identify or measure what a “successful” Copilot deployment or use even looks like. 

Aim’s solution provides security leaders with the ability to  benchmark their performance against industry peers. As the scope of GenAI’s security implications remains somewhat opaque, these insights serve as invaluable tools for security decision - makers, enabling them to gauge their progress and get a better understanding of their acceptable risk threshold. 

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The battle between enabling GenAI enterprise copilots such as Microsoft 365 and securing them will only increase in size and scope, but proactive and continuous measures taken by security leaders will help them succeed - while bolstering business in the process. Aim Security provides a free Microsoft 365 Copilot readiness assessment to help customers identify potential risks and continuously monitor deployment. Sign up today for your free assessment!