IT STRATEGY

Francis Scialabba

Things that are notorious for taking a long time to complete: trips to the DMV, a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle…and buying enterprise software

According to a survey of enterprise software buyers by AI procurement platform Levelpath, 57% of traditional software purchases take 11 weeks or longer to complete from the time of need to final approval. When it comes to AI software worth more than $10,000, that figure jumps to 72%.

And to make matters worse, many companies are taking too long to settle on the right software. Almost half (45%) of US software decision-makers surveyed in June by Software Finder said their buying experience was so prolonged that the original business need became “irrelevant” before the purchasing decision was finalized.

Ways to expedite the process.—BM

      

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May the best hand win.

CYBERSECURITY

Morning Brew Inc, Photo: Adobe Stock

Malicious actors may really start to hit companies where it hurts: by draining their AI tokens.

Cybersecurity company Bitsight unearthed a potential threat to AI-enabled companies. The cyberattack, dubbed “token torching,” involves malicious actors using malicious prompts to exhaust a company’s AI tokens.

How it works. As Bitsight detailed in a July 8 blog post, a token-torching attack can occur in three different ways:

• Contradiction injection: When a threat actor puts contradicting instructions in a prompt, which causes the AI system to waste time trying to reason through the conflicting information.
• Decoy injection: When the attacker hides superfluous instructions or a complex puzzle in materials that AI systems consume, causing a larger output than expected.
• Prompt manipulation: When prompts are designed to trigger lengthy or repetitive responses.

How to protect your organization from token torching.—BM

      

WORD OF THE WEEK

Servers: Depending on the environment and network requirements, IT professionals might opt to purchase or build servers with a particular physical form factor. Rack, blade, and tower servers are some of the more popular designs. Learn more.

CYBERSECURITY

Morning Brew Design, Image: Adobe Stock

Public sector cybersecurity gets a bad rap—which the Department of Defense aims to change with a new initiative.

The Cyber RAP (Registered Apprenticeship Program) is a paid internship scheme DOD hopes will make the federal government more appealing to cybersecurity talent. The 12-month, paid program offers hands-on experience alongside cybersecurity professionals, mentorship, and the potential for full-time employment afterwards.

Bhavesh Vadhani, global cybersecurity partner with CohnReznick, told IT Brew he’s feeling positive about Cyber RAP’s potential to compete for talent in a tight market.

“It can be impactful if it is treated as a structured talent pipeline,” Vadhani said. “It cannot be one of those other programs that, ‘Oh, we initiated the program, but there is no governance.’”

But Cyber RAP has some competition.—EH

      

patch notes

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top IT reads.

Stat: 57%. That’s the proportion of global cybersecurity leaders who are worried about AI-driven breaches. (Cybersecurity Dive)

Quote: “Testing an AI agent is less like checking code and more like handling a hazardous material: sealed rooms, constant monitoring of what leaves the building, a rehearsed containment plan.”—Alan Woodward, professor at the University of Surrey, on the extent to which agent testing environments should be secured (BBC)

Read: DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis has stepped down from his role. (Ars Technica)

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