Vatican Library Enlists Artificial Intelligence to Protect Its Digitized Treasures
Founded by University of Cambridge mathematicians, Darktrace uses artificial intelligence (A.I.) modeled on the human immune system to detect abnormal activity in the Vatican’s digital systems, writes Brian Boucher for artnet News. On average, the A.I. system defends the library against 100 security threats each month, according to a Darktrace statement.
“While physical damage is often clear and immediate, an attack of this kind wouldn’t have the same physical visibility, and so has the potential to cause enduring and potentially irreparable harm, not only to the archive but to the world’s historical memory,” Miceli tells the Observer.
He adds, “These attacks have the potential to impact the Vatican library’s reputation—one it has maintained for hundreds of years—and have significant financial ramifications that could impact our ability to digitize the remaining manuscripts.”
Though the Vatican Library dates back to the days of the first Roman Catholic popes, little is known about the contents of its collections prior to the 13th century, per Encyclopedia Britannica. Pope Nicholas V (1447–1455) greatly expanded the collection, and by 1481, the archive held the most books of any institution in the Western world, according to the Library of Congress.
To date, about a quarter of the library’s 80,000 manuscripts have been digitized.
The library isn’t the only section of the Vatican that’s prone to cyber breaches. As the New York Times reported in July, Chinese hackers infiltrated the Holy See’s computer networks this summer ahead of sensitive talks in Beijing over the appointment of bishops—part of ongoing discussions that will determine how the Catholic Church operates in China.
See the full story here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/vatican-enlists-cybersecurity-firm-protect-digitized-treasures-180976256/