Businesses turn to generative AI but many don't have policies on it

According to a new report, 93 percent of security leaders say public gen AI is in use across their respective organizations, and 91 percent report using gen AI specifically for cybersecurity operations.

But the study of more than 1,600 security leaders, from Splunk and Enterprise Strategy Group, shows that despite this high adoption 34 percent of surveyed organizations say they don't have a gen AI policy in place, and 65 percent of respondents admit to not fully understanding the implications of the tech.

Of those surveyed 44 percent rank generative AI as a top initiative in 2024, surpassing cloud security as the top initiative.

Cybersecurity leaders are split over who has the advantage when it comes to gen AI. While 45 percent of respondents believe gen AI will be a net win for threat actors, 43 percent say it will give cybersecurity defenders the edge.

"We are in an AI gold rush, with bad actors and security professionals both trying to seize the advantage," says Patrick Coughlin, SVP, Global Technical Sales at Splunk. "The introduction of gen AI creates new opportunities for organizations to streamline processes, increase productivity, and limit staff burnout. Unfortunately, gen AI also presents unprecedented advantages for threat actors. To combat this new threat landscape, defenders must outpace threat actors in the race to harness and securely deploy the power of gen AI."

Gen AI is seen as an answer to recruitment problems. 86 percent say it can enable them to hire more entry-level talent to fill the skills gap while 58 percent say on-boarding entry-level talent will be quicker thanks to gen AI.

In addition 90 percent of believe entry-level talent can lean on gen AI to develop their skills in the Security Operations Center (SOC), and 65 percent believe the technology will help seasoned cybersecurity professionals become more productive.

On the flip side though 76 percent of respondents say personal liability has made cybersecurity a less attractive field, and 70 percent have considered leaving the field due to job-related stress.

The full report is available from the Splunk site.

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