Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

July 2024

Personal Data and PII: A Guide to Data Privacy Under GDPR

Data privacy under GDPR is crucial in today's digital age. With increasing data breaches, understanding and protecting personal information is vital. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) plays a significant role in safeguarding personal data and Personally Identifiable Information (PII). GDPR, implemented in 2018, sets strict guidelines on data protection for individuals within the EU.

PII vs. SPI: Key Differences and Their Importance

Personal Information (PI) encompasses any data that can identify an individual, either directly or indirectly. This includes basic information such as names and addresses. It also includes more specific details like Social Security Numbers (SSN) and biometric data. Understanding the difference between Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and Sensitive Personal Information (SPI) is crucial for effective data protection.

Sensitive PII vs. Non-Sensitive PII: What You Should Know

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is any data that uniquely identifies an individual. This can range from apparent details like names and Social Security numbers to more subtle information like IP addresses and login IDs. The growing volume of data collected in our digital age amplifies the significance of distinguishing between sensitive and non-sensitive PII, given their different handling requirements and associated risks.

What is Personally Identifiable Information (PII)?

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) encompasses data that uniquely identifies an individual. Examples of PII include direct identifiers like full names, social security numbers, driver's license numbers, and indirect identifiers such as date of birth, email and IP addresses. The precise nature of PII can vary depending on the context and jurisdiction, but its defining characteristic is its ability to single out a specific person.

The Role of Encryption in Protecting LLM Data Pipelines

Encryption is a fundamental procedure in cybersecurity that transforms data into a coded format, making it inaccessible to unauthorized users. It has evolved significantly from simple ciphers in ancient times to complex algorithms like AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman), which are used today. Encryption ensures data confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity, which is crucial in protecting sensitive information across various domains.

Monitoring and Auditing LLM Interactions for Security Breaches

Monitoring and auditing are critical components of cybersecurity, designed to detect and prevent malicious activities. Monitoring involves real-time observation of system activities, while auditing entails a systematic review of logs and interactions. Large Language Models (LLMs), such as GPT-4, are increasingly integrated into various applications, making them attractive targets for cyber threats.

Protecto - AI Regulations and Governance Monthly Update - June 2024

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced the launch of Assessing Risks and Impacts of AI (ARIA), a groundbreaking evaluation program to guarantee the secure and trustworthy deployment of artificial intelligence. Spearheaded by Reva Schwartz, ARIA is designed to integrate human interaction into AI evaluation, covering three crucial levels: model testing, red-teaming, and field testing.

Secure API Management for LLM-Based Services

API Management is a comprehensive process that involves creating, publishing, documenting, and overseeing application programming interfaces (APIs) in a secure, scalable environment. APIs are the backbone of modern software architecture, enabling interoperability and seamless functionality across diverse applications. They facilitate the integration of different software components, allowing them to intercommunicate and share data efficiently.

How to Compare the Effectiveness of PII Scanning and Masking Models

When evaluating models or products for their ability to scan and mask Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in your data, it's crucial to follow a systematic approach. Let’s assume you have a dataset with 1,000,000 rows, and you want to scan and mask each row.

When to Use Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) vs. Fine-tuning for LLMs

Developers often use two prominent techniques for enhancing the performance of large language models (LLMs) are Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) and fine-tuning. Understanding when to use one over the other is crucial for maximizing efficiency and effectiveness in various applications. This blog explores the circumstances under which each method shines and highlights one key advantage of each approach.

Understanding LLM Evaluation Metrics for Better RAG Performance

In the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, Large Language Models (LLMs) have emerged as pivotal technology, driving advancements in natural language processing and generation. LLMs are critical in various applications, including chatbots, translation services, and content creation. One powerful application of LLMs is in Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), where the model retrieves relevant documents before generating responses.