Rise of the Machines

Expert guide to create Zero Trust digital environments in an AI-everywhere landscape

Rise of the Machines: A Project Zero Trust Story is a continuation of the 2023 bestseller Project Zero Trust, picking up where the first book left off and addressing issues not covered in the first installment: artificial intelligence, mergers and acquisitions, antivirus, business continuity, and remote work. Artificial Intelligence is the dominant issue discussed in every chapter, providing a case-study-based approach to applying zero trust principles to all the various aspects of artificial intelligence, from MLOps, used by security teams, to use of GPTs, chatbots, and adversarial AI.

AI transforms technology by enabling unprecedented automation and decision-making, but securing it with a Zero Trust approach is essential because AI inherently relies on trusted data and systems, making it a target for manipulation. The book also includes discussion around regulatory issues and the alignment of regulation around Zero Trust practices.

Written by George Finney, 2024 recipient of the Baldrige Foundation Leadership Award for Cybersecurity and recognized as one of the top 100 CISOs in the world in 2022, this book provides key insights on:

• Appling the four Principles of Zero Trust to AI: Focusing On Business Outcomes, Designing From The Inside Out, Determining Who Or What Needs Access, and Inspecting And Logging All Traffic
• Using the five steps of the Zero Trust Methodology to secure AI technologies: Defining Your Protect Surface, Mapping Transaction Flows, Architecting Your Environment, Creating Zero Trust Policies, and Monitoring and Maintaining Your Environment
• The evolution of Adversarial AI to scale attacks and how security operations teams can integrate into the Zero Trust strategy to use AI to accelerate defense

Rise of the Machines: A Project Zero Trust Story is a timely, essential read for all IT professionals across industries, including network engineers, system administrators, and cloud architects.

Foreword v

About the Authors vii

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction xi

Chapter 1: AI-pocalypse Now 1

Chapter 2: No Artificial Trusts Added 17

Chapter 3: Generative AI 31

Chapter 4: Arch-AI-tecting Controls 47

Chapter 5: Trusty AI Sidekick 65

Chapter 6: Smooth AI-operator 79

Chapter 7: The Most Important Part of Zero Trust: People 95

Chapter 8: AI-dentity Theft 109

Chapter 9: Algorithms and Adversaries 123

Chapter 10: The End of Trust 139

Appendix A The Cast of Characters 153

Appendix B Tabletop Exercise: Master Scenario Events List 155

Glossary 161

Endnotes 169

Index 175

GEORGE FINNEY is Chief Information Security Officer for the University of Texas System. George is the author of Cybersecurity Canon Hall of Fame winner Project Zero Trust and Well Aware: Master the Nine Cybersecurity Habits to Protect Your Future. He was the 2024 recipient of the Baldrige Foundation Leadership Award for Cybersecurity and was recognized in 2023 as one of the top 100 CISOs in the world.

ZACH VINDUSKA is a cybersecurity leader that is passionate about protecting people and organizations from cybercriminals. He is the Chief Information Security Officer for Credera and manages the security and privacy practice and has more than twenty years’ experience leading security and technology teams of all sizes, from start-ups to the Fortune 500. He has led several transformative efforts as well as certification efforts such as SOX, ISO27001 and SOC for both publicly traded and privately held organizations. Zach is an advocate for the education of his fellow CISOs and speaks on the topic at conferences and multiple podcasts including a regular seat on the Technically Minded podcast. He serves on multiple security related boards and councils.

A highly readable roadmap to bringing Zero Trust security to the world of AI

In the 2023 bestseller Project Zero Trust, cybersecurity thought leader George Finney delivered a step-by-step guide—disguised as an engaging narrative—to implementing a Zero Trust security strategy. Now, Finney is back to pick up where Project Zero Trust left off with Rise of the Machines: A Project Zero Trust Story. This installment continues to follow Dylan, a new Chief Information Security Officer who, having learned the basic principles and practices of Zero Trust security, is now faced with the need to apply Zero Trust in a range of special situations—especially artificial intelligence.

Rise of the Machines: A Project Zero Trust Story will refresh your memory of the 5-step methodology for implementing Zero Trust and the four key Zero Trust design principles. As Dylan navigates his organization’s security needs, his experience serves as a case study that shows you how to use the Zero Trust framework to shore up security in MLOps, individual GPT use, chatbots, AI avatars, and more. Alongside Dylan, you’ll also have a chance to grapple with AI ethics, regulatory issues, and the alignment of regulation around Zero Trust practices.

A timely read in light of the current AI explosion, this reliable resource addresses issues of urgent interest to network engineers, sysadmins, cloud architects, security professionals, and tech leaders in all industries.