AI, like secret agents and magicians, can be trained to deceive, according to researchers from the startup Anthropic.

The Anthropic study—which produced one of several recent examples of large language models (LLMs) producing unreliable output—offers more uncertainty to temper enthusiasm for generative AI adoption in the enterprise. To defend against distrustful data, AI pros who spoke with IT Brew offered “guardrail” recommendations to keep LLMs honest.

“I think that models should be limited in the workplace. They have inherent issues that are still being explored, and their use needs to be highly tailored and specific to a desired outcome,” said Josh Mitchell, SVP of cyber risk at the business consultancy Kroll.

Click through for a few recent examples of LLMs causing problems.

Read more here.—BH

“The best offense is a strong defense,” and ohhh does that ring true when it comes to data. It’s the lifeblood of business these days, so it’s absolutely imperative to keep data safe and secure from ransomware, natural disasters, simple human errors—the works.

Good thing there’s Veeam. Trusted by more than 80% of the Fortune 500 to protect and restore data, Veeam’s committed to helping every company become radically resilient. This allows you to bounce forward from any disruption and crush your goals.

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When it comes to software development, it seems like agile is still king: In Digital.ai’s 17th annual State of Agile report, a full 71% of respondents said they embraced agile software development methods over traditional, linear methods of software development, like the waterfall model.

Though the term “agile” can have a befuddling number of meanings, at its core an agile workflow involves continually writing, testing, deploying, and shipping code in an iterative manner. Popular agile methodologies include scrum and kanban, though in practice there are many overlapping variations.

IT Brew sat down with Leigh Ann Gunther, the vice president of education at the Project Management Institute’s Delaware Valley Chapter and a senior technical project manager at Comcast, to discuss what problems agile solves, why it may be better suited for modern software development, and how management can build an agile culture.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Is agile something that has to be an entire methodology that you follow, or can you integrate it into other approaches?

Frequently, when we talk about agile, we assume that that means we have to follow a specific framework like scrum or kanban, or maybe a scaled version of that, and then SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework). Fortunately, it’s been mixed together, and I think that there’s a big difference between the methodology and the mindset.

Keep reading here.—TM

Ransomware attacks were at the forefront of the security conversation over the last year, and for good reason.

New research from IT security firm NCC Group shows that ransomware attacks increased 84% year over year in 2023, even accounting for a drop in December from November’s levels.

By the numbers. In a statement accompanying the report, the company’s Global Head of Threat Intelligence Matt Hull said that “closing 2023 with over 4,000 global ransomware attacks reflects the sharp rise of cybercriminal activity compared with 2022.”

The NCC Group report estimated that a similar rise in ransomware attacks in 2024 would result in a total of around 8,500 attacks by end of year. That’s a large increase, and NCC Group warned that “with the constant influx of new threat actors, the increase could even be exponential.”

Read more here.—EH

Do you work in IT or have information about your IT department you want to share? Email [email protected].

Today’s top IT reads.

Stat: 15 years. That’s how long Canon says the low-cost, chip-printing “nanoimprint” machines it plans to start shipping as soon as this year took to reach commercial viability. (Ars Technica)

Quote: “People are willing to make larger investments on data centers…[But] there can be public backlash if you suck up power and resources without clear and direct benefits to the local community.”—Brian Pryor, data center lead banker at Houlihan Lokey North America, on Blackstone’s expansion plans for data center operator QTS (Bloomberg)

Read: The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is considering rolling out a new .INTERNAL domain to replace 192.168.x.x. (The Register)

Real talk: Data is more valuable than gold these days. That’s why you need Veeam (trusted by more than 80% of the Fortune 500) to keep yours safe and secure. Lock it down.*

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