Infosecurity Europe, the most influential information security event running at ExCeL London from 4-6 June 2024, announced Mindgard, a start-up specialising in cyber security for AI, as the winner of the UK’s Most Innovative Cyber SME 2024 contest.
The annual competition saw Nipun Gupta, Head of Product and Stefan Trawicki, Founding Machine Learning Engineer, Mindgard, presented with the award live at the event on the Innovation Stage on Wednesday 5th June in the Cyber Innovation Zone. Panel of cybersecurity experts selected Mindgard from fourteen finalists in the annual hunt for the UK’s Most Innovative Cyber SME.
Cyber risk to AI systems
Mindgard shows a free online tool for makers to act red teaming by evaluating the cyber risk
Mindgard, founded in 2022 at world-renowned Lancaster University, was recognised for its innovation in AI with the Mindgard AI Security Labs. Built upon years of world-class research and development, Mindgard offers a free online tool for engineers to perform red teaming by evaluating the cyber risk to AI systems, including large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT.
As well as derisking a wide range of AI deployment scenarios, the tool marks a major advance in the cyber threat educational tools available to engineers.
Mindgard's AI Security Labs
As enterprises rapidly develop or adopt AI to gain competitive advantage, they are exposed to new attack vectors that conventional security tools cannot address. Mindgard's AI Security Labs lifts the lid on exposure to ML attacks faced by model developers and user organisations.
These risks are predominantly undetected due to the complexity of identification and the lack of the specialised skills needed. Current AI penetration tests require months of programming and testing by hard-to-find and highly expensive teams, leaving businesses unaware of the likely impact of any disruption.
Repeatable AI security testing
The results provide insight on what is the current “art of the possible” in AI attacks
Mindgard's free AI Security Labs automates the threat discovery process, providing repeatable AI security testing and reliable risk assessment in minutes, allowing engineers to select from a range of attacks against popular AI models, datasets and frameworks to assess potential vulnerabilities. The results provide insight on what is the current “art of the possible” in AI attacks and the likelihood of evasion, IP theft, data leakage, and model copying threats.
Dr. Peter Garraghan, CEO of Mindgard and Professor at Lancaster University commented: “We are thrilled to have been recognised for this award and it is a testament to the importance of how AI has been received by the UK market.
Component for AI adoption
Garraghan added: “Cyber security is a critical component for AI adoption. Organisations are either frantically trying to get AI/GenAI out the door without considering security repercussions, or blocking its deployment entirely due to unknown cyber risks, leaving them unable to unlock its commercial value. This is the gap we aim to fill."
“We are grateful to Infosecurity Europe for creating this opportunity to demonstrate our innovation that swiftly identifies and remediates security vulnerabilities within AI.”
Impressive list of past winners
The prestigious match, open to micro, small and medium cybersecurity firms registered in UK
The prestigious contest, open to micro, small and medium cybersecurity businesses registered in the UK, saw 14 of the UK’s most creative and original information security businesses shortlisted and competing for the title. The finalists were: 2T Security, Cyber Mentor Dojo, Cyber Tzar, ECG.ai, ESProfiler, Ethicronics, Gorilla Technology Group, Mindgard, Nova Blue Technologies, Oakdoor Hardware Security Solutions, Overe, Phoenix Security, Quantum Dice and Veracity Trust Network.
Mindgard joins an impressive list of past winners including ANGOKA (2023), TryHackMe (2022), CAPSLOCK (2021), Hack the Box (2019), KETS Quantum Security (2018), Check Recipient (now trading as Tessian) (2017), Device Authority (2016) and Geolang (2015).
Change of cybersecurity technologies
Nicole Mills, Exhibition Director at Infosecurity Group, comments: “Mindgard has been chosen for their ability to push the boundaries of cybersecurity and their relentless pursuit of groundbreaking solutions. Their commitment to innovation, whilst up against tough competition, has not only set them apart from their competitors, but showcases the pace and change of cybersecurity technologies and the need for continued innovation."
"The accolade recognises this and serves as a catalyst for growth, inspiring others to revolutionise and stay one step ahead of emerging threats and challenges.”
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