AI in Cybersecurity: What’s Hype, What’s Real?

AI has taken the cybersecurity world by storm. It comes up in every conversation. And whether you see it as a tool, as a threat, as a target, or as all three, it’s probably on your mind, too.  

It may seem like AI is everywhere in cybersecurity, but the same can’t be said for good, accurate information on the subject. On the contrary, hype and speculation are driving misconceptions and distorting the true capabilities—both strengths and weaknesses—of AI in cybersecurity.  

To help cut through the noise and make clear what AI means for the present and future of cybersecurity, we created this list. Learn what’s hype compared to what’s real and adjust your expectations accordingly.  

What’s Hype: LLMs are Secure

With 90% of companies deploying or piloting Generative AI programs, the technology has spread at unprecedented speed, suggesting that the advantages appear to outweigh any concerns. Lost in that enthusiasm, however, is the very real risks of relying on AI outputs, which can be insecure, illegal, unethical, or just inefficient in countless ways.  

What’s Real: AI Vastly Expands the Attack Surface 

Using AI, to any degree, expands a company’s attacks surface, exposes it to whole new categories of cyber attacks, and makes cybersecurity more complicated overall. Security must be a priority when evaluating AI solutions, some of which take security more seriously than others.  

What’s Hype: You’re Sharing Secure Data

Though AI promises to reduce errors and eliminate typos, that doesn’t mean perfect data is the only output. In law, finance, healthcare, and other sensitive industries, bad data can lead to risks ranging from non-compliance to serious catastrophe.  

What’s Real: Automated Results Must be Verified 

AI-generated content needs to be verified before it gets the official stamp of approval or leaves the organization. And while this process can be more efficient and less time-consuming than working without AI, it still needs to be thorough and systematic to catch everything.  

What’s Hype: Adding AI to Cybersecurity is Adequate 

Vendors want to position AI as the essential missing piece of cybersecurity, and argue that simply adding AI can fix any problem and make any company reliably secure. But shoehorning AI into existing products and services usually just makes them more expensive rather than more effective. 

What’s Real: Cybersecurity needs to rethink everything

AI has the potential to transform cybersecurity, but only once the plans, policies, security stack and culture reorient around automation. It takes fresh thinking from the top down, along with no small amount of trial and error, to turn AI from the latest shiny object into a meaningful solution.  

What’s Hype: AI can Automate All of Cybersecurity 

Some people, especially those outside of cybersecurity, believe that AI can perform most cybersecurity tasks independently, better than they’re performed now, thus eliminating the need for additional staff or large security teams. They imagine a future where cyber defense runs on autopilot and remaining resilient is as easy as adjusting the automation as necessary.  

What’s Real: Humans Remain Vital

While AI can certainly help to scale and speed up certain cybersecurity activities, it exists to supplement human efforts rather than replace them. Security pros can accomplish more than ever with AI as their assistant. Alternately, even the most advanced AI will struggle to make sense of the dynamic and devious nature of cyber threats. Over-reliance on AI will only weaken cybersecurity.  

What’s Hype: AI Security is Accessible to All 

Another favorite line from vendors is that AI is so intuitive and independent that anyone can get started with it, immediately using their current resources, and see the impact overnight. While simultaneously trumpeting AI as cutting-edge, they suggest it’s not just appropriate for everyone but also accessible to everyone.  

What’s Real: It’s More Complicated Than it Seems

AI tools that have been rushed to market are rarely as user-friendly as they claim, and just because someone has tinkered with consumer AI tools before doesn’t mean they’re prepared to automate cybersecurity. One survey showed that skills gaps and talent shortages are impeding AI adoption at a third of security teams.  

What’s Hype: AI Always Gets it Right

With a tool like AI that gets it right all (or most) of the time, you were supposed to be able to replace routine tasks with higher-value work, spending more time analyzing results and less time organizing data. But with so many under-baked solutions flooding the market, AI may not get it right as consistently as advertised, and the errors could be more than minor.  

What’s Real: Managing Mistakes is Mandatory

While AI eliminates some routine tasks, it creates another in the process: finding and fixing AI’s mistakes. In cybersecurity, where any weakness or inconsistency could lead to expensive incidents, mistakes aren’t acceptable, and many teams underestimate how much time they will spend managing and monitoring AI instead of the attack surface. 

What’s Hype: AI is Immature 

The capabilities of AI may be over-hyped in many cases, but so is the infancy and immaturity of this technology. Perhaps to make AI-driven solutions seem cutting edge, vendors often frame AI as a brand-new innovation, when in fact AI has been around for many years, steadily increasing in maturity. And while many of the solutions flooding the market aren’t yet ready for prime time, all those experiments are helping this technology evolve at a remarkable pace. 

What’s Real: Cybersecurity Will Never be the Same 

The history of cybersecurity is full of technologies that never made it out of the hype cycle—but AI looks undeniably different. The applications for cyber defense are too broad, deep, and compelling for automation not to play a permanent role on security teams—especially as they confront AI-driven cyber attacks.   NopalCyber – Mastering AI in Cybersecurity

At NopalCyber, we are helping clients navigate the evolving role of AI in cybersecurity, separating hype from reality and exploring what AI can and cannot do in the field.

Our findings inform the AI driven products we develop, the services we offer to secure AI, and the bespoke solutions we deliver, ensuring clients can turn AI into a secure, strategic advantage rather than a risk.

Avoid the hype and see real gains from AI in cybersecurity. Contact NopelCyber.