And now for something completely different… a Cloud Security Alliance RFI

This blog is markedly different from any other I have posted on our website. While we have responded to a few Requests for Proposal (RFP) or Requests for Information (RFI) over the past 15 years, the Cloud Security Alliance has never issued one ourselves, until now.

Technology is moving at a breakneck pace, the fastest it ever has. Generative AI is the main reason of course. I have talked about the “Copilot-ization of Cybersecurity” before, but I actually think it is going to be more fundamental in how it changes our industry, how we manage technology risk, and how we deliver better cybersecurity at scale. CSA is known as an important not-for-profit global cybersecurity community, but we are also a cybersecurity company with products. We have embraced generative AI enthusiastically, both internally and with our prolific AI Safety Initiative, an important pivot for the company.

CSA has been around for 15 years and over that time we have produced a tremendous data repository, comprising insights on every imaginable security issue from some of the greatest experts our industry has ever known. Our belief is that our data can provide much more value if unshackled from its current formats and manipulated by Large Language Models and other forms of generative AI. We have done several proofs of concept with a few white papers here and there, and have been excited by what we can do. However, there are limits we have internally: resources, time, and expertise to fully realize the opportunity in front of us.

This is where we would like to ask the industry for help. We have decided to issue a fairly modest RFI to allow you to think about this opportunity and determine if you can partner with us to build something special to improve our industry. I have some specific ideas myself and I am happy to discuss them, but I wanted to leave it open-ended for your ideas. So if you have time between now and the RFI deadline of September 30, 2024 and like to think outside of the box, please consider responding to this RFI. I can tell you we are looking for insights and thoughtful ideas, but nothing fancy, we value function over form. We look forward to hearing from you.

Read the RFI here.