AI will help fill the cybersecurity skills gap in 2024

The UK’s growing cybersecurity skills gap poses a potential threat to both businesses and society at large. According to a recent government report, while security-related job posts have risen by 30% versus last year, employers found more than a third of positions hard to fill. When looking at existing workforces, the report also found that 50% of all UK businesses have a basic cyber security skills gap. This ultimately means that people in charge of cyber security in those businesses lack the confidence to carry out basic tasks laid out in the government-endorsed Cyber Essentials scheme. So this leaves business leaders with the question; what role will AI play in tackling this cybersecurity skills gap, and will it alleviate or exacerbate the situation?

AI opens a Pandora’s box of security concerns…

AI is a potentially powerful tool that can be used for malicious purposes by bad actors. As the technology becomes increasingly prevalent, we could see a rise in weaponized AI in the form of more sophisticated deepfakes, life-like impersonations, effective social engineering attacks, and evasive malware. Cybercriminals are also experimenting with AI poisoning – tampering that seeks to deliberately alter small elements of input data to affect the outcome of an AI model’s decision-making capabilities.