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New for Google Cloud: F5’s Generative AI Application and API Security

Beth McElroy Thumbnail
Beth McElroy
Published June 04, 2024

We recently hosted the Protect AI with AI: Insights on Securing Modern Multicloud Apps from F5 and Google Cloud webinar with experts Gary Newe, VP Global Solution Architects—Platforms, Infrastructure and Cloud for F5, and Joshua Haslett, Strategic Technology Partner Manager for Google Cloud. They discussed the prevalence and power of AI, its implications for modern multicloud workloads, and AI’s place in multicloud application and API security.

AI's widespread impact across industries is undeniable. In a survey of 200 U.S. business executives across industries in organizations with $1 billion or more in revenue, the majority are optimistic about the value of AI.

83% anticipate an increase in generative AI investment by more than 50% in the next six months to one year, with 45% saying it will at least double.

80% believe that it will disrupt their industry.

93% think that generative AI will provide value to their business.

These figures underscore AI's potential in three main areas:

  1. Enhances user experience. Through AI-powered features like recommendation engines, personalized search results, and intelligent chatbots, companies are uncovering better ways to reach customers and give them a more customized experience.
  2. Automates routine tasks. AI can potentially eliminate time spent on low-value tasks. That frees teams to focus on more strategic and creative activities. For example, in cybersecurity, AI streamlines threat detection and remediation processes.
  3. Improves decision making. AI analyzes vast amounts of data to identify patterns and trends, leading to more informed decisions and a deeper understanding of the data. From diagnosis and treatment recommendations to risk assessment and targeted advertising, the info that we can glean is only limited by our imaginations.

The newest Gemini AI models from Google Cloud

Google recently introduced the new Gemini family of AI models, designed to handle text and images. More specifically, in December, Google Cloud launched the multimodal model Gemini 1.0 in three sizes: Ultra, Pro and Nano. Just a few months later, Google Cloud released 1.5 Pro, with enhanced performance and a breakthrough long context window of 1 million tokens. More recently introduced Gemini 1.5 Flash: a model that’s lighter-weight than 1.5 Pro, and designed to be fast and efficient to serve at scale.

These versatile and powerful models cater to various use cases, from business applications to research. The three models include:

  • Gemini Pro: Optimized for a wide range of tasks, suitable for businesses needing scalable AI solutions.
  • Gemini Ultra: Designed for complex tasks requiring advanced reasoning, ideal for research and development.
  • Gemini Nano: The most efficient model, perfect for real-time responsiveness on devices with limited computational power.

With these AI models, developers can more easily integrate AI into their apps and workflows. While many companies prefer to run those apps on Google Cloud to take advantage of its powerful GPUs and CPUs, there are cases where AI needs to be closer to the workload due to latency or data sovereignty concerns.

Regardless of where AI models run, they must be secured. F5 has partnered with Google Cloud not only to help protect apps and AI models, but to extend consistent security to every environment. Together, F5 and Google Cloud are simplifying AI security to ease AI adoption by:

  • Pre-testing and integrating solutions for seamless deployment.
  • Providing best practice deployment guides tailored to different environments.
  • Streamlining the procurement process through the Google Cloud Marketplace.
  • Using AI to identify and mitigate threats quickly.

Better AI app and API security in Google Cloud

Whenever AI is integrated into applications at lightning speed, security concerns rise. The double-edged sword of AI is that while it enhances security capabilities, it also provides tools for cybercriminals to exploit. Customers must be able to rely on consistent security measures across all environments to mitigate risks such as model poisoning and prompt injection. F5 and Google Cloud understand the need for robust AI security frameworks and solutions that use AI to augment protection.

The industry is approaching a point where only AI can stop AI. That's one of the reasons that F5 has been implementing AI into its technologies; vendors must become at least as fast as the threat actors in their ability to respond to cyberthreats and minimize the risk of vulnerabilities.

F5 recently announced the development of the F5 AI Data Fabric, a new data platform designed to deliver on the promise of AI. An essential element of this data fabric is the AI ecosystem, a collection of services designed to generate reports and analytics from large amounts of data from F5 security products. This accelerates F5’s ability to build AI into its products to better secure and optimize AI-enabled apps.

As organizations adopt AI, the need for powerful and consistent security measures is front and center. By seamlessly integrating F5 app and API security with Google Cloud AI models, businesses can confidently harness the full potential of AI. F5 security solutions offer protection for your entire multicloud ecosystem, including Google Cloud, to make securing AI-powered applications easier.

To further explore F5 AI-integrated security solutions, watch our Protect AI with AI: Insights on Securing Modern Multicloud Apps from F5 and Google Cloud webinar or visit the F5 Google Cloud partner page.