NIST’s Ron Ross on Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence

Ron Ross, a computer scientist and a National Institute of Standards and Technology fellow, told Fifth Domain in an interview published on Friday that the potential role of artificial intelligence in improving cybersecurity depends on the development of a trusted platform. 

“Any AI program that you’re running at the application level is totally going to be bogus information,” he said. “Now, if you can build a trusted platform and take advantage of artificial intelligence, machine learning, you’ve got a great brave new world there. That’s awesome and we should be doing all of that.”

Ross also offered updates on NIST’s revised standards meant to require contractors to protect government data and cited the need for companies to ensure information security. 

“Information that’s critical doesn’t lose value because it goes from the federal government to a prime contractor and that value stays just as high when it goes to the sub. I think the ultimate solution is you have to protect the information no matter where it is, and somebody is going to have to pay for that,” Ross added.