LLM Security and Prompt Engineering Digest: Top August events, guides, incidents, VC reviews and research papers

Trusted AI Blog + LLM Security admin todaySeptember 4, 2023 152

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Welcome to a brief exploration into the fascinating world of AI security—a realm where innovation and danger intertwine like DNA strands. Dive in to learn how red teaming tests AI vulnerabilities, what Google recommends for AI security, the unforeseen risks of AI in everyday applications, and academic approaches to the problem.


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    LLM Security digest

    Top LLM Security event: DEFCON Highlights and The Quest for AI Security

    The recent DefCon in Las Vegas, a top hacker conference, raised concerns in terms of AI insecurity. The collection of Defcon LLM Red teaming discussions is covered in the blog post

    The main point is  a competition that drew more than 2,200 participants. The objective was to probe AI systems for weaknesses before they could be exploited by malicious actors. This method of assessing vulnerabilities, known as red teaming, aimed to mislead AI systems, encourage them to endorse discriminatory behaviors, and unveil possible tactics. Supported by the Biden administration and in collaboration with tech giants like Google, OpenAI, and Meta, the event scrutinized anonymous versions of various AI models to explore inherent risks.

    The competition revealed significant shortcomings, such as racially insensitive comments by chatbots and inaccurate message translations, accentuating the pressing need for enhanced security protocols in AI systems.

    Top LLM Security Guide: Securing AI, Similar or Different by Google

    Google shared a useful document for AI Red teaming called “Securing AI, Similar or Different?”.

    The paper covers cybersecurity topics related to developing, deploying, and utilizing AI systems by business and other organizations.

    Google’s Secure AI Framework (SAIF) offers guidelines on AI security. While many traditional security principles still apply, AI presents specific challenges. These include increased complexity due to multiple components, heightened data sensitivity, adaptability that complicates defense mechanisms, and increased interconnectedness that can introduce new attack vectors. 

    However, traditional threats, vulnerabilities, and data security requirements also persist in the AI domain. To effectively secure AI systems, organizations should adopt a layered approach that builds on existing security frameworks while accounting for AI-specific risks. Key stakeholders, including boards and security teams, should collaborate closely to navigate both the familiar and new aspects of AI security.

    The detailed highlights are considered in their blog post.

    Top LLM Security Incident: AI-powered grocery bot suggests recipe for toxic gas, “poison bread sandwich”

    Here’s a recent notorious example of an LLM security incident. A grocery chain bot suggests harmful things when given silly ingredients.

    Savey Meal-Bot, an AI-based recipe bot developed by New Zealand supermarket chain PAK’nSAVE, recently caused concern when it suggested a dangerous recipe. Utilizing the OpenAI GPT-3.5 model, the bot aims to offer recipes based on leftover ingredients. 

    However, it raised eyebrows when it suggested creating toxic chlorine gas from a mixture of water, bleach, and ammonia, as tested by political commentator Liam Hehir. PAK’nSAVE has since made adjustments to the bot, which now rejects harmful or vague ingredients. Despite this, experts caution about vulnerabilities in large language models and emphasize the importance of adversarial testing. A PAK’nSAVE spokesperson stated the company will continue to fine-tune the bot for safety and utility.

    Top Investor review on LLM security: Securing AI: The Next Platform Opportunity in Cybersecurity

    This is the best review on LLM security for the previous month.

    The integration of AI and foundation models is rapidly becoming a top priority in the cybersecurity landscape, according to interviews with CISOs and CIOs. These AI-native applications introduce new risks, as AI models behave unpredictably compared to traditional software. 

    The industry is working on defining use cases and overcoming challenges in scalability, data management, and security. Security priorities include visibility, governance, and auditability, as enterprises aim to control who has access to foundation models. Various startups are launching products to secure AI applications, and parallels are being drawn with the evolution of cloud security. Greylock is actively looking for startups that operate at the intersection of security and AI. 

    The article also outlines several AI security use-cases like data provenance, AI agent identities, and runtime protection, emphasizing the market’s nascent and dynamic nature.

    Top Research on LLM security. Use of LLMs for Illicit Purposes: Threats, Prevention Measures, and Vulnerabilities

    This is the best research on LLM security of the previous month. The researchers have focused on the safety and security concerns posed by large language models (LLMs), especially their potential for misuse in criminal activities like fraud and cybercrime. 

    They present an organized taxonomy that categorizes the threats, prevention methods, and vulnerabilities linked to LLMs. Despite LLMs’ remarkable capabilities in diverse fields like law, psychology, and medicine, they can also adversely affect job markets and be utilized for malicious activities. The paper reviews various existing scientific approaches to mitigate these security risks, including content filtering and reinforcement learning. 

    The aim is to enlighten both expert developers and new users about the limitations and risks associated with LLMs. The research also underscores the importance of peer-reviewed studies to keep up with the fast-paced developments and identify relevant safety and security concerns.

    Prompt engineering news

    150 Best ChatGPT Prompts For Every Type Of Workflow

    If you’re searching for the best ChatGPT prompts, this guide offers an extensive list suitable for various purposes like business, education, coding, music, sales, marketing, design, travel, and more. 

    The provided instructions guide the AI model’s responses or actions. For instance, prompts can be simple like “Tell me a joke,” or specific like asking the AI to mimic a famous writer’s style. The guide makes it easier for both beginners and experts to harness ChatGPT’s capabilities efficiently.

    202 Awesome ChatGPT Prompts to Boost Productivity

    Yet another comprehensive resource is dedicated to prompt engineering for HR, content creation, small business, SMM, project management, healthcare, finance, fitness, and much more. There are also FAQs for ChatGPT prompts.

    To craft effective ChatGPT prompts, the author recommends to adhere to these principles:

    • Clarity: Use precise and unambiguous language for accurate results.
    • Simplicity: Limit prompts to one to three impactful sentences.
    • Context: Add relevant context such as industry or job title for more tailored responses.
    • Specificity: Personalize the output with detailed information like subject interests or core skills.
    • Role-Playing: Guide the AI’s responses by setting a scene, e.g., asking it to act like a Microsoft engineer interviewing a junior software engineer candidate.

    Tips to enhance your prompt-engineering abilities

    Prompt engineering is crucial for optimizing AI model performance. The Google Cloud’s blog suggests six best practices:

    • Know the Model: Understand the strengths and limitations of your AI model to avoid errors and biases. For instance, a model trained on blueberry images won’t identify strawberries.
    • Be Specific: Tailor prompts for your desired outcomes. If you need a recipe for 50 vegan muffins, explicitly state so.
    • Utilize Context: Use contextual information like task specifics or persona emulation to refine outputs. This enables the AI model to comprehend your request better.
    • Provide Examples: Examples help the model understand your expectations, such as asking for a new recipe based on ones you already like.
    • Experiment: Fine-tune the model by experimenting with different keywords, sentence structures, and personas to understand how the AI model generates outputs.
    • Chain-of-Thought Prompting: Break down complex problems into smaller steps for better reasoning and output quality.
    • Understanding these best practices is essential as AI tools become ubiquitous across sectors. The ultimate goal is to achieve personalized, accurate, and unbiased AI applications.

    Prompt Engineering: A Practical Example

    This tutorial offers practical guidance on how to enhance the output of large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 using prompt engineering techniques. It walks you through the iterative process of prompt engineering, providing hands-on examples to demonstrate various techniques and related machine learning concepts. The tutorial covers how to use OpenAI’s API and apply prompt strategies like numbered steps, delimiters, and few-shot prompting. It also dives into chain-of-thought prompting for added context and explores using roles in messages for more nuanced outputs. By following the tutorial, you can adapt a Python script for your own LLM-supported tasks and achieve better results.

     

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