Cyber Pros Can't Decide If AI Is a Good or a Bad Thing TechTarget and Informa Tech’s Digital Business Combine.TechTarget and InformaTechTarget and Informa Tech’s Digital Business Combine.Together, we power an unparalleled network of 220+ online properties covering 10,000+ granular topics, serving an audience of 50+ million professionals with original, objective content from trusted sources. We help you gain critical insights and make more informed decisions across your business priorities.Dark Reading Resource LibraryBlack Hat NewsOmdia CybersecurityAdvertiseNewsletter Sign-UpNewsletter Sign-UpCybersecurity TopicsRelated TopicsApplication SecurityCybersecurity CareersCloud SecurityCyber RiskCyberattacks & Data BreachesCybersecurity AnalyticsCybersecurity OperationsData PrivacyEndpoint SecurityICS/OT SecurityIdentity & Access Mgmt SecurityInsider ThreatsIoTMobile SecurityPerimeterPhysical SecurityRemote WorkforceThreat IntelligenceVulnerabilities & ThreatsRecent in Cybersecurity TopicsApplication SecurityGitHub Confirms Breach, 4K Internal Repos StolenGitHub Confirms Breach, 4K Internal Repos StolenbyAlexander CulafiMay 20, 20263 Min ReadCybersecurity OperationsInterpol's 'Operation Ramz' Pioneers Cross-Region Collabs in Middle EastInterpol's 'Operation Ramz' Pioneers Cross-Region Collabs in Middle EastbyRobert LemosMay 20, 20264 Min ReadWorld Related TopicsDR GlobalMiddle East & AfricaAsia PacificLatin AmericaSee AllThe EdgeDR TechnologyEventsRelated TopicsUpcoming EventsPodcastsWebinarsSEE ALLResourcesRelated TopicsResource LibraryNewslettersPodcastsReportsVideosWebinarsWhite Papers Partner PerspectivesDark Reading Resource LibraryCybersecurity AnalyticsCyber RiskCybersecurity OperationsCybersecurity CareersNewsCyber Pros Can't Decide If AI Is a Good or a Bad ThingThere is nothing cybersecurity professionals are more excited about, and nothing they fear more, than AI.Nate Nelson,Contributing WriterMay 20, 20264 Min ReadSource: John Bingham via Alamy Stock PhotoIt was the best of technologies, it was the worst of technologies.In a global survey conducted by ISC2, 16,029 cybersecurity professionals indicated that, among all emerging technologies, advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) will have the greatest positive impact on their ability to secure their organizations in the near future. In the same survey, they also suggested that AI is the emerging technology with by far the greatest negative impact on their organization's security outlook.It's an irony without contradiction. On one hand, industry pros are ravenous for anything with those two letters attached, falling over one another to integrate, appear to integrate, or even totally rebrand entire businesses around it. On the other hand, AI has already had a major impact on phishing, and experiments have demonstrated its utility in more sophisticated cyber operations, too. In some ways, the optimism around AI has even contributed to the pessimism, as organizations over-excitedly adopt risky AI products, or loosely tack agentic AI onto existing products, creating new issues for themselves.Related:What Will Make AI BOMs Real?AI Powers New Generation of ThreatsSome 52% of respondents rated AI among the most negative developments in cybersecurity. Behind it, if one can even call it a separate category, was agentic AI (34%). The only other entry that came close was another long-heralded but even more unproven threat: quantum computing (32%).More specifically, cyber pros appear to be most worried about AI's impact on social engineering. More than anything else in 2025, they reported having trouble dealing with AI-powered social engineering and the high fidelity of its deepfakes. Naturally, those same survey respondents expect it to continue being their biggest challenge in the coming couple of years.Respondents did leave themselves some wiggle room, reporting that their second biggest fear for the next couple of years was "risks of emerging technologies." Claude Mythos, which takes the threat of AI beyond social engineering, postdated the ISC2 study.Betraying the subjectivity of survey data, respondents tended to rate AI's impact on cybersecurity more positively or negatively, depending on AI's broader impact on their industry in general. For example, cybersecurity workers in consulting — an industry ransacked by AI — rated AI's impact on cybersecurity more negatively than any of their peers. Respondents in hands-on industries less directly threatened by AI — construction, agriculture, and automotive — were least likely to view its impact as negative.Related:76% of All Crypto Stolen in 2026 Is Now in North KoreaGoodbye to Low-Value, Repetitive TasksIn another part of the survey, 41% of respondents told ISC2 that advancements in AI will be among the greatest boons for cybersecurity in the near future. Only automation (35%) and zero-trust network access (33%) ranked similarly high, with formerly trendy areas like extended detection and response (XDR) (19%) and blockchain (8%) trailing far behind.It could also be that folks are feeling better about AI now that they're getting more comfortable using it. ISC2 survey data released late last year showed that 41% of cybersecurity professionals were either in some way testing or evaluating AI in their workflows, and 28% of cybersecurity professionals were already AI-integrated. Most of those who've tried it have had positive experiences, with 63% reporting significant boosts to their productivity, and only 21% reporting no meaningful impact.Counterintuitively, survey respondents were most bullish about AI's potential impact on the cybersecurity job market. Two-thirds of respondents believed that AI will generate more technical and communications jobs in the industry."It's going to get rid of some of those large dataset, highly repetitive, low-value tasks and bring you to decisions quicker," argues ISC2 chief information security officer (CISO) Jon France. "I think that's a net positive. If it frees up some of my time from analysis, into decision-making and into higher functions, then I'm not [losing] a job. I'm just focusing on something that's of higher value to me and my organization."Related:Do Ceasefires Slow Cyberattacks? History Suggests NotFor France, AI replacing certain kinds of more menial cybersecurity work will help solve talent shortage problems for companies, without necessarily shrinking the job market. "It's also shown that some of the other skills that cyber pros have — probably less technical and more human-based — are now being valued higher. The ability to work in a team, to communicate complex business concepts, better critical thinking and logical thinking; these are things that are now more differentiating in the job market," he argues.Asked for his personal opinion about whether AI is having a positive or negative impact in cybersecurity, France says: "Yes."About the AuthorNate NelsonContributing WriterNate Nelson is a journalist and award-winning scriptwriter. In addition to Dark Reading he writes for Darknet Diaries, the most popular show in cybersecurity across all media.He began his career as a freelancer, ghostwriting Forbes and CNBC op-eds for executives in tech and finance. Then he transitioned to journalism at Threatpost, where he covered cybersecurity news and trends. Throughout those years he co-created a cybersecurity podcast, Malicious Life, which in its day climbed into the Top 20 technology podcasts charts on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.He holds degrees from New York University and Bard College. 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Cybersecurity professionals express a duality of feelings regarding artificial intelligence, recognizing it as both a significant opportunity and a substantial threat to organizational security. A global survey conducted by the International Society of Cybersecurity (ISC2) revealed that while advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are expected to yield the greatest positive impact on securing organizations in the near future, AI simultaneously represents the most significant negative development concerning the security outlook of the industry. This tension arises from the industry’s intense desire to integrate or rebrand around AI technologies juxtaposed with the inherent risks they introduce.

Specific concerns identified by cybersecurity professionals center heavily on the malicious applications of AI. The data indicated that AI-powered social engineering and the high fidelity of deepfakes are the primary fears, suggesting that sophisticated deception techniques pose an immediate challenge. Furthermore, the negative impact of AI was most acutely felt within specific professional segments; for instance, cybersecurity workers in consulting, an industry heavily impacted by AI, rated its effect more negatively than their peers, whereas those in less directly threatened sectors, such as construction, agriculture, and automotive, were least likely to view the impact negatively. Beyond immediate threats, the survey also noted concerns regarding emerging technologies in general, with respondents reporting a secondary fear related to the risks posed by emerging technologies.

Conversely, the potential benefits of AI are also highly emphasized. A substantial portion of respondents, forty-one percent, believe that AI advancements will be major boons for cybersecurity in the near term. Other areas ranking highly as beneficial included automation, which was rated at thirty-five percent, and zero-trust network access, at thirty-three percent. This positive view is supported by data on current adoption; forty-one percent of professionals were actively testing or evaluating AI within their workflows, and twenty-eight percent were already integrating AI into their practices. Furthermore, those who have tried AI have reported considerable gains in productivity, with sixty-three percent noting significant boosts, though only twenty-one percent reported no meaningful impact.

The impact of AI is also shaping the cybersecurity job market. It is believed by two-thirds of respondents that AI will generate new roles in technical and communication fields within the industry. This shift is predicated on the idea that AI will automate low-value, repetitive tasks, allowing professionals to focus on higher-level functions. As Chief Information Security Officer Jon France suggested, this automation is seen as a net positive because it frees up time for decision-making and higher-level analysis. Moreover, France argued that AI elevates the value of inherently human skills, positioning attributes like teamwork, complex communication, and critical thinking as more differentiating factors in the job market, suggesting that AI mitigates potential talent shortages rather than reducing the overall job market.