Accenture Launches New Suite Of GenAI-Focused Security Services

The services are geared toward securing GenAI usage as well as protecting against AI-driven attacks and utilizing the technologies for security capabilities, Accenture Security’s Paolo Dal Cin tells CRN.

A newly announced set of Accenture cybersecurity services are aimed at securing customer usage of generative AI as well as protecting against GenAI-driven attacks and enhancing existing security capabilities, the head of Accenture Security told CRN.

IT consulting giant Accenture, No. 1 on CRN’s Solution Provider 500 for 2024, debuted the new services Tuesday amid the market shift toward embracing GenAI for business growth and for its productivity-enhancing capabilities, according to Paolo Dal Cin, global lead for Accenture Security.

Ultimately, Accenture is looking at GenAI as both “an opportunity to develop new services and to reinvent existing services” within the cybersecurity sphere, Dal Cin said.

The launch includes Accenture’s announcement of several new Cyber Future Centers worldwide focused on GenAI and security, including a new U.S. center in Washington, D.C. Each of the centers will employ more than 100 specialists, he said.

For protecting the adoption of GenAI, Accenture is unveiling its Secure AI Solutions offering, focused on enabling organizations to reduce the risks of data exposure and addressing vulnerabilities in AI models so that organizations can safely leverage the new technologies.

For example, Accenture will now offer a GenAI security diagnostic tool that it had previously piloted internally for its own use, according to Dal Cin.

The tool’s capabilities include identifying insecure data lakes and unauthorized foundational models, while also offering the ability to shield foundational models from prompt injection attacks using an approach akin to an “AI firewall,” he said.

For securing against AI-powered attacks, Accenture’s new services will include protection capabilities against deepfakes, which are increasingly being used for phishing and social engineering.

Key components will include a co-engineered service with deepfake detection startup Reality Defender, which Accenture has backed as an investor. “I believe there is nothing available in the market yet” that is comparable, Dal Cin said.

Meanwhile, Accenture is also enhancing its existing cybersecurity services utilizing GenAI, including its managed detection and response (MDR) offering.

The company’s security teams are leveraging and AI assistant that can better aggregate and analyze threat intelligence, ultimately enabling significantly improved risk correlation, according to Dal Cin.

Using these capabilities, “there is a material improvement in the effectiveness” of providing MDR to customers, he said.

Another example is on identity security, where Accenture has developed an agent that can dramatically improve the speed of user provisioning and access control, Dal Cin said.

“This is something that we have never seen before, because it was a very people-intensive type of service,” he said.