3 minute read
Everyone builds? So, is security compromised?
Whenever I talk to potential customers, especially those coming from the technical side, their top concern is security—and I don't underestimate that.
Part of this concern comes from regulatory requirements, some from company policies, and other parts from basic security needs within the context of a large organization.
Does involving all teams in this AI transformation process really make it less secure for the organization?
There is a risk—I won't deny that. But what's the point of putting this as a barrier when there are always measures you can take to secure your setup?
I'll walk you through the top security concerns and share my favorite solutions to them.
- Organization Credentials
Everyone across teams is connecting their accounts to this central automation tool because the goal is to automate as much as possible with it.
How and where these credentials are stored and accessed play a huge role in determining the security level of such an automation tool.
You don't want all the keys to your assets to be compromised if things go wrong.
I recommend two key measures: a strong encryption methodology (we use 256-bit encryption keys for credentials at Activepieces) and storing credentials within your organization's infrastructure, either in a secure vault or through an on-prem automation tool that's entirely hosted in your infrastructure (which Activepieces also supports).
- Data Processing and Storage
You don't have to be in a regulated industry to worry about your operational data (even something as routine as customer tickets in Zendesk). But if you are in a regulated industry, you must be strict about where and how you process and store your operational data and Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
Many cloud services will assure you that they're secure, but the maximum assurance comes from hosting this AI automation tool in your own infrastructure under your own security rules.
Even if you host it yourself, there's no guarantee of how the data will be processed or what kind of data might be sent out to a third-party server---unless you use an open-source tool that allows you to read and audit its code at any time (Activepieces is one).
- Access to Your Services
You definitely don't want everyone in the company to have full access to all your internal resources. For example, if you want employees to access your database to create automations, you need to ensure this access is secure.
First, make sure the service or resource limits their capabilities and doesn't allow destructive behavior.
Additionally, you'll need tools to monitor access to these services. For example, at Activepieces, we allow the IT manager to tag certain connectors as sensitive, monitor their usage, and assign them to specific users.
- Observability
Observability isn't just for debugging; it's also a critical security measure. IT teams need full visibility into what's going on within this core infrastructure.
With a tool like Activepieces, if you host it in your infrastructure, you can directly access the resources it runs on---like the main database of the application---and create reports and alerts on top of it.
This is incredibly powerful because it allows you to stay on the lookout for any misbehavior.
There's more to security than just these points, but these are the most critical elements to consider when securing your AI automation infrastructure.