AI introduces new types of information security risks says Markus Miettinen, a new cyber security professor at the University of Jyväskylä

AI introduces new types of information security risks says Markus Miettinen, a new cyber security professor at the University of Jyväskylä

Markus Miettinen began as the new Cyber Security professor at the University of Jyväskylä.

Miettinen specializes in technical cyber security and system-level security thinking. However, he approaches cyber security and information security as holistic issues.

"Digital security is a continuum in which all parts of the system must be considered, from devices to operating systems, from software to users, and from organizations to their operating culture. All of these factors must be taken into account in information security," Miettinen explains.

As a professor Miettinen will be focusing on strengthening the teaching and research of technical cyber security at the University of Jyväskylä.

Artificial intelligence introduces new kinds of information security threats

One of Miettinen's research interests is related to artificial intelligence models and the new types of security threats they bring with them.

"The artificial intelligence systems we use are vulnerable to manipulation because they are completely reliant on the data fed into them. The amount of data used by the models is so large that it is often not feasible to monitor their contents," Miettinen explains.

Cybercriminals and other malicious parties can manipulate models, for example, by feeding large amounts of false information into the network or by modifying the training data.

"For example, entities linked to Russia have created countless websites that support Russia's views on the war in Ukraine. When there is enough data, this can cause bias in AI models, which affects the answers they give about the war," Miettinen explains.

Although the technologies we use are in a state of constant change, Miettinen emphasizes that basic security skills, such as using strong passwords, can take you a long way.

"Talking about these issues with people close to you can help your less tech-savvy relatives better recognize scams and manipulation attempts online," Miettinen advises.

A diverse international background as a strength

Miettinen has close ties not only to Finland but also to Germany, where he has spent a large part of his life.

Miettinen studied computer science at the University of Helsinki and then worked as a scholarship holder at Ruhr-Universität Bochum in Germany. Miettinen has also worked at Nokia's research centers in Helsinki and in Lausanne in Switzerland, as well as at the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology in Darmstadt, Germany.

Miettinen earned his doctorate in technical information security from the Technical University of Darmstadt in 2018. It is one of the key universities in the field of information security in Germany.

Miettinen says that he was originally contacted some years ago from Finland, but only now has his family situation allowed him to move to Finland. Miettinen's family still lives in Germany, but Miettinen commutes between Finland and Germany.