A new report finds that 54% of cybersecurity professionals believe cybercriminals will benefit more from AI than the security industry.
The report of The Chartered Institute of Information Security (CIISec), based on a survey of more than 300 cybersecurity professionals, reveals that 51% of respondents believe that AI and machine learning will be the most influential technologies in the cybersecurity industry during of the coming year.
Zero Trust Core Principles and Cybersecurity Hygiene are the closest technologies/principles cited, both at just seven percent.
While 89% say AI will benefit attackers, only 84% say it will benefit the cybersecurity industry itself. Unskilled workers (26%) and older people (39%) will benefit the least, and less than half (48%) believe AI will benefit society as a whole.
Nearly half of security professionals (44%) believe their organization is unaware of AI risks and does not have policies in place to ensure safe use. Despite this, 85% of them at least consider using AI in their role.
“While the AI revolution will undoubtedly benefit many business functions, it poses more questions than answers for cybersecurity professionals. There is a huge risk that cybercriminals will use technology as a weapon and that employees unaware of the risks will inadvertently leave their organization vulnerable when using it. ” says Amanda Finch, CEO of CIISec. “The security industry needs to gain knowledge about the threats posed by AI – particularly GenAI – while it is still in its infancy. “We will defend against attacks of AI for decades. This will help inform security practices and help cybersecurity professionals raise awareness of risk and security across the enterprise. “
The report also examines other cybersecurity trends and finds that although salaries in the sector have increased, 22% of cybersecurity professionals say they are overworked and 55% are kept up at night due to stress of their work.
Although 56% believe the industry is doing a better job of defending itself and addressing breaches, this is not sustainable, with 80% believing security budgets are growing too slowly, stagnating or decreasing. Just 11 percent believe budgets are increasing in line with threat levels and a record number (19 percent) believe the sector will stagnate over the next three years.
There will be a webinar to discuss the results on November 15 at 11:30 a.m. GMT (06:30 a.m. ET).
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