Securing AI Data Across The Lifecycle

• As AI adoption grows, data integrity has become a top security concern.
• CSI guidance highlights key risks to AI data, including poisoning, supply chain issues and drift.
• It also addresses the capabilities security solutions need to secure and govern AI data across its entire lifecycle.

As AI adoption accelerates, so does the need to protect the data that powers it. From model training to real-time decision-making, AI systems depend on trusted, high-integrity data. But when that data is manipulated—accidentally or maliciously—AI can fail in ways that are hard to detect and even harder to reverse.

In May 2025, a coalition of cybersecurity leaders—including the NSA’s AI Security Center, CISA, FBI and international partners—released fresh guidance to address this risk. The Cybersecurity Information Sheet (CSI) on AI Data Security calls data security “of paramount importance” across every stage of the AI system lifecycle. 

The CSI recommends end-to-end protections like encryption, digital signatures, provenance tracking, secure storage and trusted infrastructure throughout the entire AI lifecycle. In practice, data must be verified at ingestion, managed with integrity controls and continuously monitored to prevent data manipulation, whether unintentional or malicious—a challenge this blog explores.

Key risk areas: Supply chain, poisoning and drift

To tackle that challenge, the CSI pinpoints three critical moments when data is most exposed—the data supply chain, the risk of poisoning and undetected drift over time.

Data supply chain

Large-scale, third-party datasets can contain errors or backdoors introduced unwittingly or maliciously. Unvalidated training data not only corrupts the immediate model, but also “any additional models that rely on [it] as a foundation.” 

To mitigate this, organizations should implement robust verification before ingesting any new data (e.g. checksums or digital signatures) and track data provenance through content credentials or metadata that attest to the source and integrity of each dataset. Data should be certified “free of malicious or inaccurate material” before use, and kept in append-only, signed stores after ingestion.

Maliciously modified (“poisoned”) training data

Adversaries may attempt to inject subtle corruptions or fake records into training pipelines. The CSI calls for continuous vetting of training sets: remove or flag any suspicious or anomalous entries, and cryptographically sign datasets at ingestion to detect tampering. 

Organizations should require their data and model providers to formally certify that their inputs contain no known compromises. Data consumers and curators must maintain end-to-end integrity, from signed collection and secure storage to real-time monitoring of network and user activity for unexpected changes.

Data drift

Over time, the statistical properties of input data can change (“drift”), reducing model accuracy. This degradation is natural but must be distinguished from attacks. The CSI notes that gradual shifts typically indicate normal drift, while abrupt changes can signal poisoning. 

Organizations should continuously monitor AI inputs and outputs, comparing incoming data distributions to the training baselines. Data management processes—regular retraining with fresh data, cleansing and ensemble models—help keep models calibrated. In high-stakes environments (e.g. healthcare), even small drifts matter, so “continuous monitoring of model performance with additional analysis of the input data” is important.

Best practices for securing AI data

The CSI urges a “robust approach to securing AI data” by leveraging modern cryptography and data controls. In practice, this means encrypting sensitive data at rest and in motion, using digital signatures or hashes to verify datasets, enforcing strict access controls and maintaining audit trails of data provenance. Incorporating these measures from the start (in design and data collection) builds a foundation that “safeguards sensitive, proprietary, or mission critical data” at every stage.

How the right data security solutions make it easier

You’re going to want to side with a vendor whose security portfolio is well-aligned with these AI data security best practices. Look for layered controls to prevent data loss, detect anomalous behavior and defend against advanced attacks on the AI data pipeline. Here’s how these solutions work in your data’s favor: 

• Data loss prevention (DLP). In an AI environment, a robust DLP solution shields training data and models from theft or misuse by applying granular policy controls and continuous monitoring across all channels. It uses content inspection and classification to block leakage of proprietary or regulated data—exactly the kind of data often used in AI training.
• User and entity behavior analytics (UEBA). A UEBA platform correlates activity across tools like DLP, endpoint protection, CASB and Active Directory to surface insider threats, breaches and suspicious behavior involving AI data, helping teams respond quickly.
• Endpoint security. Endpoint security protects the systems where AI data is stored and accessed—blocking malware, credential theft and unauthorized access that could compromise AI training data or models. With advanced features like Active Directory threat defense, adaptive protection and AI-driven prediction of attackers’ next moves, it helps keep sensitive data secure across the systems AI depends on.
• Endpoint detection and response (EDR). To protect AI data stores and pipelines, you’ll want an EDR solution that continuously records endpoint activity (processes, file changes, registry events) and enables security analysts to hunt threats in real time. Look for features like attack chain visualization (so you can see each step of an attack) and customizable behavioral detections. 

All together, now.

Together, these solutions help operationalize the CSI’s recommended safeguards. DLP combined with endpoint controls enforce boundaries on sensitive data, advanced analytics tie together dispersed signals and AI-driven threat prediction adds a proactive defense. The result: AI data pipelines that are better protected against supply chain tampering, poisoning attempts and stealthy intrusions.

The strategic imperative of proactive AI data protection

Protecting AI data is mission critical. Models often contain proprietary business insights or sensitive customer information, and their accuracy hinges on trusted inputs. The CSI warns that data security is “increasingly crucial for maintaining accuracy, reliability, and integrity” as AI adoption grows. Proactive steps—like encrypting data, enforcing access controls and auditing data streams—are essential against stealthy adversaries.

Symantec and Carbon Black enable organizations to put these principles into practice with tools that align with the CSI’s highest standards of data security for AI, giving CISOs and compliance leaders the controls they need to protect sensitive AI assets. Rather than react to breaches, the industry’s best path is to embed AI-aligned data security into their operations—using analytics, automation and policy enforcement to catch issues before they happen.

To see how Symantec DLP works to defend your most sensitive data, start with this quick video.