- The Alan Turing Institute has described recommendations to protect the United Kingdom’s research
- The state-nation threat actors represent a serious risk for the development of the United Kingdom
- Universities are increasingly attacked, so they need to increase protection
The Alan Turing Institute has issued a report that warns that “urgent action” is needed to protect the “United Kingdom world leader’s research ecosystem.”
An urgent and coordinated response of the United Kingdom government and higher education institutions are needed, according to the report, to develop protections for the research sector. This includes recommendations to create a classified mapping of the IA higher education research ecosystem and provide guidance to universities.
Higher education institutions in the United Kingdom are increasingly attacked by threat actors, and almost half experience a cyber attack every week. The report confirms that the actors of the nation have been discovered using “espionage, theft and duplicate collaboration” to try to maintain the rhythm of the research and development of the United Kingdom.
Cultural change
The rapid development of AI investigation makes it vulnerable to threat actors supported by the nation who seek to steal intellectual properties and use it for malicious purposes.
Concerns were raised about hostile states by potentially obtaining access to the nature of “double use” of technology, which means that the tool can be reused or being reverse engineering to be used for malicious activities, such as defense tools that are becoming to help attackers.
The report describes the need for a change in culture to focus on developing awareness of the risk and security mentality, and encouraging “constant compliance” with guidelines and best practices.
The research also wants to address the artificial intelligence skills of the United Kingdom ensuring that national talent is retained and providing research security for staff and research students. Intensive research universities are also advised to establish research scrutiny committees to support risk assessments for AI researchers.
“Deepen AI investigation is rightly a priority for the United Kingdom, but the safety risks that accompany it cannot be ignored as the world around us grows more and more volatile,” says Megan Hughes, a research associate at the Alan Turing Institute.
“The Academy and the Government must commit and support this very late cultural change to achieve the correct balance between academic freedom and protect this vital asset.”
