Nina Laaksonen on Digital Sovereignity: How WithSecure Leverages AI and GenAI to Protect European Companies in a Turbulent World

We’re talking with two great guests today: Nina Laaksonen, Chief Product Officer at WithSecure, and Mitchell Contursi from AWS. WithSecure, a European company with over 30 years of history in cybersecurity, holds a strong stance on digital sovereignty and adheres to strict European compliance and ethical standards. Nina explains how in-built AI and machine learning, a core part of their protection capabilities for over two decades, is vital in combating threats like financially motivated actors and advanced persistent threats targeting mid-sized European companies. The discussion highlights WithSecure's co-security model, emphasizing cybersecurity as a collaborative effort and knowledge sharing. They also delve into the strategic partnership with AWS on technology and sovereignty. A significant innovation is Lumin AI, an in-built LLM-based AI assistant (on AWS Bedrock) that provides contextual guidance in natural language, simplifying cybersecurity for users. The episode underscores WithSecure's commitment to data integrity and privacy with GenAI, ensuring data stays within Europe and is not used to train foundational models. The future role of GenAI in transforming the industry from reactive to proactive security is also discussed.