Lisa Loud, Executive Director of the Secret Network Foundation, emphasized in her keynote that Secret Network has been pioneering confidential computing in Web3 since its launch in 2020. According to Loud, the focus now is to mainstream this technology alongside blockchain and decentralized AI, addressing concerns with centralized AI systems and ensuring data privacy.
Yannik Schrade, CEO of Arcium, highlighted the growing necessity for decentralized confidential computing, calling it the “missing link” for distributed systems. He stressed that as AI models play an increasingly central role in decision-making, conducting computations in encrypted environments is no longer optional but essential.
Schrade also noted the potential of confidential computing in improving applications like decentralized finance (DeFi) by integrating robust privacy measures while maintaining accessibility for end users. However, achieving a balance between privacy and scalability remains a significant hurdle. Schrade pointed out that privacy safeguards often compromise user experience, which can hinder broader adoption. He emphasized that for confidential computing to succeed, it must be seamlessly integrated so users remain unaware they are engaging with such technologies.
Shahaf Bar-Geffen, CEO of COTI, underscored the role of federated learning in training AI models on decentralized datasets without exposing raw data. This approach is particularly valuable in sensitive sectors like healthcare and finance, where confidentiality and compliance are critical.
Henry de Valence, founder of Penumbra Labs, discussed the importance of aligning cryptographic systems with user expectations. Drawing parallels with secure messaging apps like Signal, he emphasized that cryptography should function invisibly, enabling users to interact with systems without technical expertise. De Valence stressed that privacy-first infrastructure is vital as AI’s capabilities to analyze and exploit data grow more advanced.
Other leaders in the field, such as Martin Leclerc of iEXEC, highlighted the complexity of achieving privacy, usability, and regulatory compliance. Innovative approaches like zero-knowledge proof technology, as demonstrated by Lasha Antadze of Rarimo, offer promising solutions. Antadze explained how this technology enables users to prove eligibility for actions like voting or purchasing age-restricted goods without exposing personal data, making blockchain interactions more accessible.
Dominik Schmidt, co-founder of Polygon Miden, reflected on lessons from legacy systems like Ethereum to address challenges in privacy and scalability. By leveraging zero-knowledge proofs and collaborating with decentralized storage providers, his team aims to enhance both developer and user experiences.
As confidential computing evolves, it is clear that privacy and usability must go hand in hand to address the needs of an increasingly data-driven world. Through innovation and collaboration, these technologies are set to redefine how privacy is maintained in AI and Web3 applications.
Over the years, zero trust has become a popular model adopted by organisations due to a growing need to ensure confidential information is kept safe, an aspect that organisations view as paramount in cybersecurity. Zero-trust is a vital security framework that is fundamentally not like the traditional security perimeter-based model. Instead of relying on a robust boundary, zero-trust grants access to its resources after the constant validation of any user and every device they use, regardless of an individual's position within an organisation or the number of years since one first employed with the company. This "never trust, always verify" policy only grants minimum access to someone, even a long-tenured employee, about what is needed to fulfil their tasks. Because information for cybersecurity is often log file data, zero trust principles can provide better safeguarding of this sensitive information.
Log Files: Why They Are Both Precious and Vulnerable
Log files contain information that reflects all the digital interplay happening on the network, hence can indicate any vulnerability on a system for remediation purposes. For example, it's a good source where one will trace how companies' activities go regarding their performance by analysing log files for anything out of place or anomalies in systems' behaviours for speedy intervention for security lapses. At the same time, however, these log files can expose organisations to vulnerabilities when wrong hands gain access because of possible theft of confidential data or the intention of hacking or modification. The log files have to be strictly controlled and limited only for authorization, because the misuse has to be avoided for maintaining the network secure.
Collecting and Storing Log Data Securely
Zero trust can best be implemented only if gathering and storing of log file collection and storage are sound. It ensures that the real-time data is collected in an environment that has a tamper-resistant place that prevents data from unauthorised modification. Of late, there has been OpenTelemetry, which is gaining popularity due to its potential in the multiple data sources and secure integration with many databases, mostly PostgreSQL.
Secure log storage applies blockchain technology. A decentralised, immutable structure like blockchain ensures logs cannot be altered and their records will remain transparent as well as tamper-proof. The reason blockchain technology works through multiple nodes rather than one central point makes it nearly impossible to stage a focused attack on the log data.
Imposing Least Privilege Access Control
Least privilege access would be one of the greatest principles of zero-trust security, which means that end-users would have only access to what is required to achieve their task. However, it can be challenging when balancing this principle with being efficient in log analysis; traditional access control methods-such as data masking or classification-frequently fall short and are not very practical. One promising solution to this problem is homomorphic encryption, which enables analysis of data in its encrypted state. Analysts can evaluate log files without ever directly seeing the unencrypted data, ensuring that security is maintained without impacting workflow.
Homomorphic encryption is beyond the level of the analyst. This means other critical stakeholders, such as administrators, have access to permissions but are not allowed to read actual data. This means logs are going to be secure at internal teams and thus there is a lesser chance of accidental exposure.
In-House AI for Threat Detection
Companies can further secure log data by putting in-house AI models which are run directly within their database and hence minimise external access. For instance, the company can use a private SLM AI that was trained specifically to analyse the logs. This ensures there is safe and accurate threat detection without having to share any logs with third-party services. The other advantage that an AI trained on relevant log data provides is less bias, as all operations depend on only relevant encrypted log data that can give an organisation precise and relevant insights.
Organisations can ensure maximum security while minimising exposure to potential cyber threats by applying a zero-trust approach through strict access controls and keeping data encrypted all through the analysis process.
Zero-Trust for Optimal Log Security
One of the effective log file intelligence approaches appears to be zero trust security-a security approach that uses the technologies of blockchain and homomorphic encryption to ensure the integrity and privacy of information in management. It means one locks up logs, and it is a source for valuable security insights, kept well protected against unauthorised access and modifications.
Even if an organisation does not adopt zero-trust completely for its systems, it should still ensure that the protection of the logs is considered a priority. By taking the essential aspects of zero-trust, such as having minimal permissions and secured storage, it can help organisations decrease their vulnerability to cyber attacks while protecting this critical source of data.
Within a year and a half, ChatGPT has grown from an AI prototype to a broad productivity assistant, even sporting its text and code editor called Canvas. Soon, OpenAI will add direct web search capability to ChatGPT, putting the platform at the same table as Google's iconic search. With these fast updates, ChatGPT is now sporting quite a few features that may not be noticed at first glance but are deepening the user experience if one knows where to look.
This is the article that will teach you how to tap into ChatGPT, features from customization settings to unique prompting techniques, and not only five must-know tips will be useful in unlocking the full range of abilities of ChatGPT to any kind of task, small or big.
1. Rename Chats for Better Organisation
A new conversation with ChatGPT begins as a new thread, meaning that it will remember all details concerning that specific exchange but "forget" all the previous ones. This way, you can track the activities of current projects or specific topics because you can name your chats. The chat name that it might try to suggest is related to the flow of the conversation, and these are mostly overlooked contexts that users need to recall again. Renaming your conversations is one simple yet powerful means of staying organised if you rely on ChatGPT for various tasks.
To give a name to a conversation, tap the three dots next to the name in the sidebar. You can also archive older chats to remove them from the list without deleting them entirely, so you don't lose access to the conversations that are active.
2. Customise ChatGPT through Custom Instructions
Custom Instructions in ChatGPT is a chance to make your answers more specific to your needs because you will get to share your information and preferences with the AI. This is a two-stage personalization where you are explaining to ChatGPT what you want to know about yourself and, in addition, how you would like it to be returned. For instance, if you ask ChatGPT for coding advice several times a week, you can let the AI know what programming languages you are known in or would like to be instructed in so it can fine-tune the responses better. Or, you should be able to ask for ChatGPT to provide more verbose descriptions or to skip steps in order to make more intuitive knowledge of a topic.
To set up personal preferences, tap the profile icon on the upper right, and then from the menu, "Customise ChatGPT," and then fill out your preferences. Doing this will enable you to get responses tailored to your interests and requirements.
3. Choose the Right Model for Your Use
If you are a subscriber to ChatGPT Plus, you have access to one of several AI models each tailored to different tasks. The default model for most purposes is GPT-4-turbo (GPT-4o), which tends to strike the best balance between speed and functionality and even supports other additional features, including file uploads, web browsing, and dataset analysis.
However, other models are useful when one needs to describe a rather complex project with substantial planning. You may initiate a project using o1-preview that requires deep research and then shift the discussion to GPT-4-turbo to get quick responses. To switch models, you can click on the model dropdown at the top of your screen or type in a forward slash (/) in the chat box to get access to more available options including web browsing and image creation.
4. Look at what the GPT Store has available in the form of Mini-Apps
Custom GPTs, and the GPT Store enable "mini-applications" that are able to extend the functionality of the platform. The Custom GPTs all have some inbuilt prompts and workflows and sometimes even APIs to extend the AI capability of GPT. For instance, with Canva's GPT, you are able to create logos, social media posts, or presentations straight within the ChatGPT portal by linking up the Canva tool. That means you can co-create visual content with ChatGPT without having to leave the portal.
And if there are some prompts you often need to apply, or some dataset you upload most frequently, you can easily create your Custom GPT. This would be really helpful to handle recipes, keeping track of personal projects, create workflow shortcuts and much more. Go to the GPT Store by the "Explore GPTs" button in the sidebar. Your recent and custom GPTs will appear in the top tab, so find them easily and use them as necessary.
5. Manage Conversations with a Fresh Approach
For the best benefit of using ChatGPT, it is key to understand that every new conversation is an independent document with its "memory." It does recall enough from previous conversations, though generally speaking, its answers depend on what is being discussed in the immediate chat. This made chats on unrelated projects or topics best started anew for clarity.
For long-term projects, it might even be logical to go on with a single thread so that all relevant information is kept together. For unrelated topics, it might make more sense to start fresh each time to avoid confusion. Another way in which archiving or deleting conversations you no longer need can help free up your interface and make access to active threads easier is
What Makes AI Unique Compared to Other Software?
AI performs very differently from other software in that it responds dynamically, at times providing responses or "backtalk" and does not simply do what it is told to do. Such a property leads to some trial and error to obtain the desired output. For instance, one might prompt ChatGPT to review its own output as demonstrated by replacing single quote characters by double quote characters to generate more accurate results. This is similar to how a developer optimises an AI model, guiding ChatGPT to "think" through something in several steps.
ChatGPT Canvas and other features like Custom GPTs make the AI behave more like software in the classical sense—although, of course, with personality and learning. If ChatGPT continues to grow in this manner, features such as these may make most use cases easier and more delightful.
Following these five tips should help you make the most of ChatGPT as a productivity tool and keep pace with the latest developments. From renaming chats to playing around with Custom GPTs, all of them add to a richer and more customizable user experience.