#2 Cold Case: Samsung Shadow AI

The Samsung Case: When Employees Become Unwitting Witnesses 

May 2023, Seoul. In Samsung Electronics' conference rooms, no one had yet realized that the threat wasn't forcing its way through the doors. It was already inside, sitting at desks, hidden behind seemingly innocent ChatGPT queries. 

The Crime Scene 

While security teams were hunting for threats in firewalls and access logs, the company's most sensitive data was already walking out the door. Not through zero-day exploits or ransomware attacks. But through copy-paste into ChatGPT. 

Three distinct episodes, three open wounds in the security of one of the world's tech giants. In the first case, an engineer pastes proprietary source code into ChatGPT for optimization. In the second, confidential meeting transcripts are uploaded to generate summaries. In the third, strategic meeting notes end up in a public chatbot's prompts. 

The result? Samsung immediately bans the use of public AI, but the damage is done. The data is already on OpenAI's servers, irrecoverable, potentially compromised. Data leakage in broad daylight, without malware, without phishing, without sophisticated attacks. Just employees trying to work smarter. 

The case shook the tech industry, forcing companies worldwide to rethink their AI policies. But was there a way to prevent it entirely? 

 

The Motive: Shadow AI, The Perfect Accomplice 

Security investigators call this scenario Shadow AI: unauthorized use of consumer AI services that completely bypasses corporate controls. It's not an external attack. It's an involuntary insider threat, where well-intentioned employees become vectors of compromise. 

The critical point? The absence of persistent file and endpoint protection, combined with the lack of secure alternatives. Employees needed AI to be productive, but the company had no tools to provide it in a controlled manner. The result is predictable: sensitive data follows the path of least resistance, headed straight to ungoverned external platforms. 

The investigators' questions are always the same: 

• Why weren't confidential files protected at the source? 

• Why was there no automatic classification system? 

• Why didn't employees have access to secure internal AI tools? 

 

The Expert Analysis: How CyberGrant Would Have Solved This Cold Case 

Let's rewind to January 2023, four months before the incident. Samsung decides to implement the CyberGrant ecosystem. What would have changed? 

• AIGrant: The AI That Stays Home 

Here's the plot twist: Samsung employees could have used AI to optimize code, summarize meetings, and analyze documents. But everything would have stayed within the corporate perimeter. 

AIGrant is the intelligent orchestrator that allows interaction with documents in natural language, exactly as you would with ChatGPT. The difference? Data never leaves. No uploads to external servers, no risk of training public models with proprietary information. 

The engineer who wants to optimize code? Opens the file in FileGrant, queries AIGrant, gets contextualized suggestions. Everything tracked, everything governed, everything compliant with corporate policies. The manager looking for a meeting summary? Same procedure, same security. 

Access policies are dynamic: they automatically adapt based on role, department, and document classification. Semantic search works only on content the user is authorized to access. It's governance by design, not by enforcement. 

In the on-premise version – the one Samsung would have chosen – data remains physically within the corporate infrastructure. Cryptographic keys are managed internally in zero-knowledge logic: not even CyberGrant can access them. Complete digital sovereignty, total control, guaranteed compliance with GDPR, NIS2, and DORA. 

• FileGrant: The Protection System That Follows Documents Anywhere 

Protection isn't in the location, it's in the document itself. FileGrant applies post-quantum encryption based on CRYSTALS-Kyber directly to files, protection that travels with the document wherever it goes. It's not a static vault: it's a persistent security system that remains active even after download, after email sending, after any transfer. 

The system applies automatic classification and granular access control. Every document is tagged based on sensitivity, every user accesses only what they're entitled to. Audits are continuous, every access attempt is recorded. And here's the first line of defense against Shadow AI: automated extraction by public chatbots is blocked at the root. 

FileGrant also enables secure external sharing with authorized parties, maintaining active protection. 

• RemoteGrant: Evidence That Resists Even Outside the Perimeter 

But there's one final piece: what happens when an employee downloads a document to work offline? 

RemoteGrant comes into play with transparent encryption on disk and corporate cloud. The file remains encrypted even locally, decryptable only by the authorized application, only by the authorized user, only for the authorized time. 

Critical scenario: an employee tries to copy an encrypted file via USB, personal email, or unauthorized cloud service. The file exits the perimeter? It remains encrypted and unusable. No readable data, no possible compromise. 

 

The Reconstruction: Three Episodes, Zero Victims 

Let's reconstruct the three Samsung episodes with CyberGrant active: 

Episode 1 – Code Optimization: 
The engineer opens the source file in FileGrant, uses AIGrant for analysis. The code is never copied to ChatGPT because the internal AI already meets their needs. No data leakage. 

Episode 2 – Meeting Transcripts: 
Notes are managed in FileGrant with "Confidential" classification. AIGrant automatically generates summaries on request. Transcripts never leave the on-premise infrastructure. No compromise. 

Episode 3 – Unauthorized External Sharing: 
An employee attempts to copy sensitive documents to an external service. The file exits encrypted with CRYSTALS-Kyber. Even if it reaches unauthorized destinations, it remains completely unreadable. No impact. 

Final result: 

• Zero compromised documents 
• Zero data on public servers 
• Complete traceability for audit and compliance 
• Productive employees with secure AI 
• Intact corporate reputation 
• Guaranteed GDPR compliance 

 

The Verdict: A Precedent for All Companies 

The Samsung case isn't an anomaly. It's a signal of an ongoing transformation: AI is entering every business process, and without governance it becomes an uncontrollable risk vector. 

CyberGrant doesn't eliminate risks. It transforms them into control and awareness. Every file protected, every access tracked, every AI interaction governed. Post-quantum encryption guarantees protection even against future threats. The on-premise version ensures complete digital sovereignty. 

It's not defensive technology. It's enabling security: it allows AI use without compromising data protection. 

 

Key Takeaways for CISOs and Decision Makers 

1. Bring AI Inside the Secure Perimeter
   Eliminating Shadow AI means providing internal alternatives. AIGrant and FileGrant offer enterprise-grade AI capabilities without data leakage.
2. Persistent Protection with Post-Quantum Encryption
   Files remain protected wherever they go. CRYSTALS-Kyber guarantees resistance even against quantum computers.
3. Granular Governance and Complete Traceability
   Automatic classification, dynamic access controls, continuous audits. GDPR, NIS2, and DORA compliance by design.