Artificial intelligence is transforming the way companies design products, optimise processes and make decisions. However, the rapid adoption of these technologies is also creating new risks relating to cybersecurity, privacy and the integrity of intelligent systems. To address this challenge, IKERLAN and SecureML have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore opportunities for collaboration in the field of artificial intelligence security and privacy.

The agreement builds on a long-standing relationship between IKERLAN and Stjepan Picek, founder of SecureML and an internationally renowned expert in research on security applied to artificial intelligence.

Through this collaboration, both organisations aim to accelerate the transfer to market of advanced technologies that enable the development and use of more robust, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence systems.

Responding to a growing challenge
The expansion of artificial intelligence across every sector of the economy is increasing the exposure of companies and organisations to new threats. As AI is built into products, services and critical infrastructure, it is essential to make these systems more resilient to attacks, to protect information and to ensure that they operate reliably throughout their entire life cycle.

In this context, IKERLAN and SecureML will share knowledge and capabilities to tackle one of the major technological challenges of the coming years: protecting artificial intelligence-based systems against vulnerabilities, manipulation and misuse.

“Artificial intelligence is making strong inroads into products, processes and critical infrastructure, and its security must advance at the same pace. This collaboration with SecureML will allow us to strengthen our capabilities in a field that will be key to helping companies adopt AI with confidence and harness its full potential safely and responsibly,” says David González, Head of the Cybersecurity and Dependability area at IKERLAN.

The collaboration will focus mainly on two areas. The first is the protection of artificial intelligence systems used for tasks such as analysing data or making predictions. Their security will be addressed throughout their entire life cycle, from data management and model training through to deployment, use and updating, in order to protect information and models against attacks or manipulation. The second is the security of generative artificial intelligence and of intelligent agents capable of performing tasks. These tools, including those that consult documents and other sources of information to produce their answers, will be assessed and protected against risks such as manipulation through malicious instructions, information leakage and the execution of unauthorised actions.

Combining complementary capabilities to generate business impact
The collaboration brings together highly complementary capabilities. SecureML contributes specialist expertise in artificial intelligence security, together with an extensive network of contacts and relationships with large organisations that require advanced solutions of this kind. 

IKERLAN brings its expertise in applied research, technological development, and knowledge transfer to industry, supporting businesses in advancing safety and cybersecurity solutions.

Thanks to this complementarity, both organisations will seek to drive new technological developments, take part in joint initiatives and provide solutions for organisations operating in sectors with particularly demanding security and digital trust requirements.

The collaboration seeks to bring companies advanced capabilities to protect artificial intelligence systems, strengthening the security, privacy and reliability of technologies that are becoming increasingly widespread in critical sectors.