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Summary

In this episode of Chattinn Cyber, Marc Schein is chattin’ with Marshall Gilinsky, a partner at Anderson Kill, PC, focusing on the impact of artificial intelligence across various industries, particularly in insurance.

Marshall shares his background and explains how his interest in AI developed over time. He expresses his fascination with the technology, emphasizing its potential benefits and risks. Marshall believes that AI has the capacity to revolutionize numerous tasks and industries, but he also stresses the importance of understanding and regulating AI to ensure its safe and productive use.

The discussion then shifts to instances of AI misuse, where Marshall recounts a case involving a lawyer who relied solely on AI to draft legal briefs. This reliance led to significant failures and embarrassment for the lawyer, highlighting the need for caution and responsible use of AI to prevent similar mishaps in the future.

Mark inquires about the implications of AI for the insurance industry and seeks advice for policyholders. Marshall explains that while AI is a powerful new tool, it can both enhance and harm insurance operations. He notes that current insurance policies lack specific provisions for AI-related claims, advising policyholders to remain vigilant about potential risks associated with AI technologies.

The conversation progresses to the topic of AI regulations and future predictions. Marshall discusses the ongoing efforts by regulators to understand and ensure the safe development of AI. He emphasizes the necessity of balancing business interests with the protection of policyholders and investors. Although he acknowledges the challenges in making accurate predictions about AI’s future, he remains hopeful for conscientious engineering practices that prioritize safety and responsibility.

In closing, Mark thanks Marshall for his valuable insights and expresses interest in continuing the dialogue. Marshall appreciates the opportunity to discuss AI and mentions his ongoing learning and exploration in this rapidly evolving field. Overall, the episode underscores the importance of understanding and managing the risks and benefits associated with AI, particularly within the insurance sector.

Key Points

1. Fascination with AI: Marshall expresses a deep interest in AI, highlighting its transformative potential across various industries. He emphasizes the need to understand both the benefits and risks associated with AI technologies.
2. Cases of Misuse: The discussion includes real-world examples of AI misuse, such as a lawyer who relied solely on AI for drafting legal briefs, which resulted in failure. This underscores the importance of caution and responsible use of AI.
3. Impact on Insurance: AI is described as a double-edged sword in the insurance industry. While it can enhance operations, it also poses risks. Marshall notes that current insurance policies often lack specific provisions for AI-related claims, urging policyholders to be aware of these potential risks.
4. Need for Regulation: The conversation highlights the ongoing efforts by regulators to understand AI and ensure its safe development. Marshall stresses the importance of balancing business interests with the protection of policyholders and investors.
5. Challenges in Prediction: Marshall acknowledges the difficulty in making accurate predictions about the future of AI. However, he expresses hope for responsible engineering practices that prioritize safety and ethical considerations.
6. Continuous Learning: Ongoing education and exploration in the field of AI is important and reflects the rapidly evolving nature of the technology and its implications.
7. Responsible Use: The conversation reinforces the need for a cautious approach to AI, advocating for responsible use to mitigate risks and maximize benefits in various applications, particularly in sensitive areas like insurance.

Key Quotes

1. On Fascination with AI: “The potential for benefits to society from… using AI in all sorts of tasks across the world, economic, personal, etc., are mind boggling. While at the same time the potential for harm is of great concern.”
2. On Misuse of AI: “There was a lawyer, who… relied exclusively on AI to draft some briefs. The chat bot basically wove the brief out of whole cloth, making up the facts and the law… It ends up being a magnificent failure.”
3. On the Impact of AI in Insurance: “It just seems at this point to present as a new type of thing that can go wrong and lead to a very common sort of insurance problem.”
4. On Regulation: “Everyone’s kind of learning together… businesses are trying to develop these tools in a way that enhances their operations and their profitability, and regulators are out there trying to make sure that it’s done in a way that’s safe.”
5. On Predictions for AI’s Future: “I think there’s a lot of conscientious engineers out there that are trying to do things in a way that’s safe and productive… But we live in a capitalistic marketplace where there’s strong incentives to build the biggest, baddest, most productive thing you can.”
6. On Continuous Learning: “I’m constantly talking to people to find out new things that are happening… because there’s constantly new things that are emerging all the time.”

About Our Guest

Marshall Gilinsky is a shareholder at Anderson Kill’s Boston office, specializing in Insurance Recovery and Commercial Litigation. He co-chairs the firm’s Sexual Harassment and Abuse Insurance Recovery Group and the Sports, Media, and Entertainment Group, while also being a member of the Banking and Lending Group and the Restaurant, Retail & Hospitality Group. With over 20 years of experience representing policyholders, Marshall has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars through successful litigation of complex insurance claims, including those related to high-profile events like 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and Superstorm Sandy. He also assists clients with captive insurance companies, focusing on resolving coverage disputes with reinsurers. Known for his deep understanding of clients’ businesses and insurance programs, Marshall frequently writes and lectures on insurance topics and is often quoted in major media outlets, including The New York Times and CNN.

Follow Our Guest:

LinkedIn | Anderson Kill

About Our Host

National co-chair of the Cyber Center for Excellence, Marc Schein, CIC,CLCS is also a Risk Management Consultant at Marsh McLennan. He assists clients by customizing comprehensive commercial insurance programs that minimize the burden of financial loss through cost effective transfer of risk. By conducting a Total Cost of Risk (TCoR) assessment, he can determine any gaps in coverage. As part of an effective risk management insurance team, Marc collaborates with senior risk consultants, certified insurance counselors, and expert underwriters to examine the adequacy of existing client programs and develop customized solutions to transfer risk, improve coverage and minimize premiums.

Follow Our Host:

Website | LinkedIn

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:05 — 19.4MB)

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Summary

In this episode of #ChattinnCyber, Billy Gouveia, the CEO of Surefire, a prominent cybersecurity firm stops by to chat. Billy chats about quantifying the costs associated with data breaches. He shares what it was like growing up in Boston and becoming the CEO of a renowned cybersecurity company.

Billy acknowledges the significance of #cybersecurity in today’s world, stating that the work being done in the field will have a lasting impact on future generations. He highlights the exponential growth of the tech industry, which is enabled by cybersecurity, and emphasizes the importance of addressing issues such as IP theft and the normalization of cybercrime.

Billy explains that he recognized structural disincentives for current market participants to embrace technology in a different way. He wanted to reframe the role of incident response experts and leverage technology to provide better outcomes for clients. By automating workflows and utilizing technology effectively, Surefire aims to provide faster outcomes, reduce costs, and make clients’ lives better during cyber events. The conversation then delves into the role of automation and #artificialintelligence (AI) in incident response. Billy clarifies that while AI has a role to play in automation, the current focus is more on automation itself. He discusses the advancements in technology and tools for detection, containment, forensic investigations, and restoration.

Billy emphasizes the importance of talent in the field and how automation can streamline processes, allowing experts to focus on guiding clients through business decisions. Billy tells our listeners about cybersecurity controls that provide the best return on investment (ROI). He suggests starting with endpoint detection and response capability, along with multi-factor authentication (MFA) and backups. He explains that the prioritization of controls may vary depending on the nature of the business, such as protecting intellectual property or ensuring uptime.

The discussion then shifts to the challenges of MFA bypass techniques, where threat actors find ways to bypass or degrade MFA controls. Billy explains examples such as MFA fatigue and token theft, highlighting the need for multiple controls and a thoughtful approach to cybersecurity.

In conclusion, Billy reflects on the dynamic and challenging nature of the cybersecurity domain. He emphasizes the importance of seeking guidance from experts like Marsh McLennan Agency #MMA to navigate the complexities of cybersecurity.

Key Takeaways

1. The Significance of Cybersecurity: Billy Gouveia emphasizes that cybersecurity is among the defining issues of our time, with the work being done in the field expected to impact future generations. The tech industry, enabled by cybersecurity, is a trillion-dollar industry, but it also faces challenges such as IP theft and the normalization of cybercrime.
2. Reframing the Role of Incident Response: Surefire aims to reframe the role of incident response experts by leveraging technology and automation to provide better outcomes for clients. By automating workflows and utilizing tools effectively, they can provide faster responses, reduce costs, and improve clients’ experiences during cyber events.
3. Automation vs. Artificial Intelligence: While artificial intelligence (AI) has a role to play in automation, the current focus in incident response is more on automation itself. Automation can streamline processes and allow experts to focus on guiding clients through business decisions. AI’s role in incident response is expected to grow over time.
4. Prioritizing Cybersecurity Controls: When it comes to cybersecurity controls, Billy suggests starting with endpoint detection and response capability, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and backups. The prioritization of controls may vary depending on the nature of the business, such as protecting intellectual property or ensuring uptime.
5. Evolving Cybersecurity Challenges: Threat actors are constantly finding ways to bypass or degrade cybersecurity controls. MFA bypass techniques, such as MFA fatigue and token theft, pose challenges. It is crucial to have multiple controls in place and to stay vigilant in adapting to evolving cybersecurity threats.

Key Quotes

1. “In many ways, cyber is among the defining issues of our time… The stuff we work on now will affect our kids and our grandkids.”
2. “…if we have automation putting the puzzle together, then what our team can do is focus more on helping the client orient to the picture the puzzle creates, and then guiding our clients through a set of business decisions.”
3. “I’m hopeful AI can make the offense-defense matchup a lot more symmetric… Maybe AI can close that.”
4. “Having a response take three days in duration versus three weeks makes their lives better, reduces business interruption.”
5. “Four or five years of a hard insurance market has done more to improve security controls than 20 years of security professionals howling at black hat or RSA or any of the security conferences.”

About Our Guest

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:11 — 18.1MB)

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In this episode of CHATTINN CYBER, Marc Schein interviews Vickram Kooblall, CIO and CISO at Scahill Law Group. Vickram is in charge of managing the firm’s operations and directing its technology infrastructure. He investigates and analyzes the firm’s digital transformation and cybersecurity resilience initiatives.

Vickram tells us about his upbringing and what led him to a career in cybersecurity. He reveals that the internet was never designed with security in mind, but as it grew, we realized how important it is to manage, secure, and protect data.

Vickram also describes how artificial intelligence has become the digital transformation means of law firms and many other organizations. AI and ML have greatly aided attorneys in many areas, including contract management, document management, due diligence, legal research, behavioral prediction, and so on, allowing them to become better litigators. According to Vickram, law firms deal with sensitive data daily, so data security is critical. He also shared some basic hygiene tips, like, using a strong password and multi-factor authentication.

Internal and external threats are treated equally by law firms. Internal threats are prevented/curbed with utmost employee care, especially during times like the great resignation or big quit, because data is the most important threat then. To ensure data security, many organizations today use zero trust. Encryption is also critical.

Towards the close of the episode, Vikram emphasizes the importance of focusing on AI security because of the numerous native adversarial attacks specific to AI. So, it is important that organizations using data and developing an AI model must also ensure its security.

Listen to the conversation for more details!

Highlights:

“Well, certainly in terms of zero trust is becoming, you know, one of those big, you know, big things that we’re seeing organizations do more and more, we are certainly seeing user rights and access management, being something that is looked at very closely and monitored, you know, who should have access to what and when. Also, I think the timing is very important when you’re working on a large case or a particular matter. Those individuals that don’t need access should not have access to those specific cases. During that time. And, you know, it’s going to come back to encryption.”

“You know, in terms of some basic hygiene, one of the biggest things it comes back to is also employee training. That has been one of my focuses, you know, in the last two years ensuring that the employees themselves are very well versed and understand threats that come their way. You know, in terms of strong passwords, that’s been some of the basic hygiene that every organization should implement, and more so many law firms. I have seen at least, maybe once or twice during a week of some law firm email being compromised due to exactly that not having a strong password, we have multi-factor authentication, which is certainly a must-have for any organization, especially, you know, law firms in this space..”

“I think, AI has become the digital transformation that we’ve been looking for. Look, law firms are very slow in adopting new technology and trying to, you know, get a, you know, trying to, it’s always been such a labor-intensive type of practice.”

Time-Stamps: 

[00:29] – How Vickram became executive director of the most prestigious law firm in the Northeast

[03:38] – Why is Artificial Intelligence important for law firms?

[05:38] – The best practices in law firms to secure data

[07:12] – Is Vickram concerned more about internal threats or external threats?

[08:49] – How to mitigate some of the internal threats inside an organization?

[10:15] – How is AI security important?

Connect with Vickram:

 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vickramk/