Growing AI-driven risks prompt urgent need for upskilling in advanced cybersecurity capabilities
A significant 56 per cent of security professionals express concern over AI-powered threats, highlighting the growing challenges posed by artificial intelligence in the cybersecurity landscape, according to Pluralsight’s recent AI Skills Report. The survey reveals that over half of the technologists are either extremely or moderately concerned about these emerging threats, with a mere 6 per cent indicating they are not worried.
As AI technology rapidly advances, fears about its potential to create sophisticated cyber threats have escalated. However, despite these rising concerns, only 40 per cent of organisations have established formal training and structured instruction for AI, leaving many IT professionals underprepared. Notably, 74 per cent of those surveyed fear that AI tools might eventually replace their roles.
“Organisations are witnessing more frequent attacks from advanced threat actors targeting critical infrastructure and OT technology,” said Bri Frost, Pluralsight’s Director of Security and IT Ops Curriculum. “These systems often operate on outdated platforms, making them more vulnerable and posing a higher risk of devastating consequences.”
In light of the increasing prevalence of AI-driven threats, the urgency for security professionals to upskill and acquire specialised knowledge is mounting. Over 75 per cent of respondents identified threat intelligence and reverse engineering as the most valuable advanced cybersecurity skills today, with 24 per cent also highlighting threat hunting as a critical capability.
“The most critical advanced cybersecurity skills today are those that enable proactive testing of defences against both current and future tactics,” said Aaron Rosenmund, Pluralsight’s Senior Director of Security and GenAI Skills. “Combining this with a strong foundation in networking, endpoints, servers, and cloud concepts equips individuals to deliver immediate results and significantly reduce risk within an organisation.”
As the cybersecurity field evolves alongside the increasing sophistication of digital threats, lesser-known roles are gaining prominence. Thirty-four per cent of respondents believe Cybersecurity Data Scientists will become mainstream in the near future, while 22 per cent expect a rise in the demand for Exploit Developers. Other emerging roles include DevSecOps specialists (16 per cent), Red Team Operators (12 per cent), Threat Hunters (10 per cent), and ICS/SCADA Security Engineers (4 per cent).
Frost also underscored the growing need for Cybersecurity Data Scientists, noting, “The task of managing and analysing massive datasets from a security standpoint is becoming increasingly challenging. Effective monitoring of logs from various endpoints, network data, and user behaviour is critical-having data analysts dedicated to this process will enhance our ability to quickly identify and mitigate malicious activities.”
