{"id":217340,"date":"2026-05-20T12:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T16:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/20\/isc2-report-ai-tops-cybersecurity-risks-and-opportunities\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T12:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T16:20:09","slug":"isc2-report-ai-tops-cybersecurity-risks-and-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/20\/isc2-report-ai-tops-cybersecurity-risks-and-opportunities\/","title":{"rendered":"ISC2 Report: AI Tops Cybersecurity Risks and Opportunities"},"content":{"rendered":"

ISC2 Report: AI Tops Cybersecurity Risks and Opportunities<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.channelinsider.com\/security\/isc2-ai-cybersecurity-risk-opportunity-report\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-05-20 12:15:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: www.channelinsider.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: <\/a><\/p>\n

Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points. Channel Insider content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More A new study from ISC2 has found that cybersecurity professionals now see AI as both their biggest opportunity and biggest threat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The findings point to a field at an inflection point, with teams moving to adopt AI for defense while preparing for more scalable, convincing AI-enabled attacks.<\/p>\n

AI ranks as top security opportunity and threat<\/p>\n

The research presented respondents with a list of emerging technologies and asked them to rank which would have the greatest positive impact on organizational security and which could pose the greatest negative impact.<\/p>\n

According to the report, 41% of respondents said advancements in AI will have the greatest positive impact on security. Interestingly, 52% also said AI would have the greatest negative impact.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This paradox led the company to describe AI as cybersecurity\u2019s \u201cclearest double-edged sword.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cybersecurity teams weigh AI benefits against risks<\/p>\n

Respondents identified the following technologies as having the greatest positive impact on security:<\/p>\n

Advancements in AI (41%)<\/p>\n

Automation in cybersecurity (35%)<\/p>\n

Zero trust network access (33%)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Passwordless authentication (22%),<\/p>\n

Agentic AI (21%)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Risk\u2011based vulnerability management (21%)<\/p>\n

However, when asked which technologies could have the most significant negative impact on security, the rankings shifted:<\/p>\n

Advancements in AI (52%)<\/p>\n

Agentic AI (34%)<\/p>\n

Quantum computing (32%)<\/p>\n

Increase in processing power and speed (19%)<\/p>\n

Mobile computing advances (17%)<\/p>\n

ISC2 said the contrasting rankings highlight the complex challenge cybersecurity professionals face with AI.<\/p>\n

\u201cAI is not a single-dimensional tool. It is simultaneously an accelerator for defenders and a force<\/p>\n

multiplier for adversaries,\u201d ISC2 said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile automation and intelligence-driven insights promise to ease operational burdens, the rapid pace of AI innovation is also introducing uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n

AI-powered social engineering leads future concerns<\/p>\n

When asked about the biggest challenges faced over the past 12 months, AI-powered social engineering ranked as the top concern at 51%.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That figure rose to 57% among those who expect it to become a major challenge over the next two years.<\/p>\n

Once again, the study emphasized that while AI has strengthened cyber defenses, it has also been leveraged \u201cto scale and refine attacks,\u201d prompting security professionals to adapt traditional security approaches and strengthen protections.<\/p>\n

Challenges respondents said they faced over the past 12 months included:<\/p>\n

AI-powered social engineering (51%)<\/p>\n

Worker\/skill shortages in the workforce (39%)<\/p>\n

Risks of emerging technologies like blockchain, AI, VR, quantum computing, etc. (38%)<\/p>\n

Economic uncertainty is impacting cybersecurity staffing and hiring (36%)<\/p>\n

Insider threats (34%)<\/p>\n

Keeping up with changing regulator requirements (32%)<\/p>\n

Looking ahead to the next two years, cybersecurity professionals ranked the top challenges differently:<\/p>\n

AI-powered social engineering (57%)<\/p>\n

Risks of emerging technologies like blockchain, AI, VR, quantum computing, etc. (46%)<\/p>\n

Adapting to risks from advances in employee computing technologies (34%)<\/p>\n

Cyber attacks stemming from cyber operators as a precursor to military conflict, a tactic of military operations, or a tool of retaliation (34%)<\/p>\n

Keeping up with environmental regulatory requirements (32%)<\/p>\n

Keeping up with changing regulator requirements (32%)<\/p>\n

What MSPs should know<\/p>\n

For MSPs and channel partners, the findings reinforce the need to treat AI as both a security enablement tool and a growing customer risk area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Providers that are already using automation and AI-driven insights to improve threat detection, response, and vulnerability management will also need to help clients address AI-enabled social engineering, emerging technology risks, and governance gaps.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That creates a near-term opportunity for partners to position AI oversight, workforce training, and security policy development as part of broader cybersecurity advisory and managed services.<\/p>\n

ISC2 calls for governance and workforce training<\/p>\n

With these findings, the ISC2 report underscored the pivotal crossroads the cybersecurity industry currently faces with AI.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Given both its benefits and potential security risks, the company called on cybersecurity professionals to prioritize governance frameworks and workforce training for effective AI oversight.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaken together, these findings paint a picture of a profession at a critical crossroads. AI is redefining what is possible in cybersecurity, but it is also redefining what is required and who will deliver it, from skills development and ethical considerations to governance and collaboration,\u201d the research said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor cybersecurity professionals, success will depend not only on adopting new technologies, but on building the judgment frameworks and the workforce needed to use them responsibly,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

Last year, ISC2 published research highlighting mounting burnout, widening skills gaps, and shifting cybersecurity priorities as organizations prepared for broader AI adoption heading into 2026. Read more about those findings and how they compare with the latest report above.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISC2 Report: AI Tops Cybersecurity Risks and Opportunities https:\/\/www.channelinsider.com\/security\/isc2-ai-cybersecurity-risk-opportunity-report\/ Publish Date: 2026-05-20 12:15:00 Source Domain:…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":217341,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/assets.channelinsider.com\/uploads\/2026\/05\/man-night-and-coding-in-office-computer-or-blank-2026-03-25-06-57-52-utc-1.jpg?f=jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[26,24,27],"class_list":["post-217340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cybersecurity","tag-ai","tag-cybersecurity","tag-vulnerability"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217340"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217340"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":217342,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217340\/revisions\/217342"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}