Cybersecurity professionals believe AI will significantly affect their jobs

With responses from more than 1,100 cybersecurity professionals, a new survey reveals that 88 percent of respondents believe that AI will significantly impact their jobs, now or in the near future.

The study from ISC2 shows 35 percent have already witnessed its effects. However, views on exactly what the implications of AI might be are mixed.

Optimism that AI will improve job efficiency is expressed by 82 percent of respondents. 56 percent say that AI will make some activities within their job unnecessary, freeing up time for higher-value tasks.

75 percent of respondents are moderately to extremely concerned that AI will be used for cyberattacks or other malicious activities, with deepfakes, misinformation and social engineering are the top three concerns for cyber professionals.

While 60 percent feel confident in their ability to lead their organization's secure adoption of AI, 41 percent of participants have minimal or no expertise in securing AI and machine learning (ML) technology. 82 percent feel there is a need for comprehensive and specific regulations governing AI’s safe and ethical use.

But despite these concerns, only 27 percent of participants say their organization has formal policies in place governing the safe and ethical use of AI, with 39 percent stating their organization is currently discussing a formal policy. When asked 'who should regulate AI's safe and ethical use,' the study reveals that cyber professionals are hoping for global coordination between national governments and a consortium of AI experts.

"Cybersecurity professionals anticipate both the opportunities and challenges AI presents, and are concerned their organizations lack the expertise and awareness to introduce AI into their operations securely," says ISC2 CEO Clar Rosso. "This creates a tremendous opportunity for cybersecurity professionals to lead, applying their expertise in secure technology and ensuring its safe and ethical use. In fact, ISC2 has developed AI workshops to foster the expert-led collaboration the cybersecurity workforce needs to address this challenge."

The full study is available on the ISC2 site.

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