{"id":2390,"date":"2025-03-18T14:39:21","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T14:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/?p=2390"},"modified":"2025-03-18T14:39:21","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T14:39:21","slug":"new-research-reveals-securitys-biggest-ai-challenges-and-two-potential-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/?p=2390","title":{"rendered":"New research reveals security\u2019s biggest AI challenges \u2013 and two potential solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A new survey of security leaders has revealed a stark contrast between AI expectations and realities \u2013 while enthusiasm for AI\u2019s potential runs high, teams are grappling with significant challenges in implementation demonstrating ROI, and realizing tangible business impact.<\/p>\n

Sponsored by Tines and AWS, IDC\u2019s Voice of Security 2025 white paper<\/a> features survey data from over 900 security leaders in the US, Europe, and Australia.<\/p>\n

At first glance, the data shows that security leaders\u2019 sentiment toward AI is largely positive:<\/p>\n

99% of teams are embracing AI<\/p>\n

78% of leaders are confident that changes to their roles will be manageable<\/p>\n

But this enthusiasm coexists with many concerns about AI, including frustration at the pace of adoption. And a deeper analysis of the data suggests that these adoption challenges may be preventing teams from exploring more impactful applications. While AI adoption is widespread, realizing its full potential remains elusive for many of the leaders surveyed.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Current state: High hopes meet harsh realities<\/h2>\n

IDC\u2019s white paper found that most security leaders view AI as a force multiplier, expecting future benefits like increased business efficiency (54%), improved customer experience (51%), and greater competitive advantage (46%).<\/p>\n

But in the present, these teams are grappling with significant barriers to adoption:<\/p>\n

33% are worried about training capacity<\/p>\n

27% have compliance-related concerns<\/p>\n

26% have concerns about AI hallucinations<\/p>\n

25% are focused on secure AI adoption<\/p>\n

20% are frustrated by slow implementation<\/p>\n

As we examine IDC\u2019s data further, two potential solutions emerge to help teams better realize AI\u2019s potential.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Solution #1: Move to use cases that support critical decision-making<\/h2>\n

IDC\u2019s research reveals that the most popular AI use cases for security teams primarily involve data manipulation:<\/p>\n

\u2022 36% use AI for summarization<\/p>\n

\u2022 35% use AI for threat intelligence analysis<\/p>\n

\u2022 34% use AI for threat detection<\/p>\n

While data summarization is an excellent starting point for AI adoption, it should be viewed as a stepping stone rather than an end goal.<\/p>\n

Less common in IDC\u2019s research, but indicative of more mature AI programs are the following use cases:<\/p>\n

\u2022 32% use AI for risk assessments<\/p>\n

\u2022 25% use AI for attack surface management<\/p>\n

\u2022 22% use AI for advanced triage<\/p>\n

This focus on data manipulation implies that many of the security teams featured in the study are still early in their AI journey. To achieve true business impact, they\u2019ll need to progress from short-term efficiency gains through data summarization to applications that fundamentally transform operations. For instance, an AI-powered risk prioritization workflow could offer more substantial, enduring benefits to an organization\u2019s security posture.<\/p>\n

Of course, realizing these advanced use cases requires leaders to address the concerns highlighted earlier, which leads us to our second potential solution.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Solution #2: Adopt a flexible, holistic approach to AI<\/h2>\n

To pave the way for these advanced use cases, security teams need to move beyond relying on isolated AI features in existing tools and focus on developing a comprehensive AI strategy that addresses their specific challenges.<\/p>\n

Based on the challenges highlighted in IDC\u2019s research, this approach might involve:<\/p>\n

Integration of AI with workflow orchestration \u2013 combining AI capabilities with automated workflows to maximize impact and efficiency.<\/p>\n

Skill development \u2013 investing in training to ensure team members can effectively leverage AI tools and interpret their outputs.<\/p>\n

An adaptive AI strategy \u2013 developing a flexible AI roadmap that can evolve with technological advancements and changing security needs.<\/p>\n

Robust security and privacy measures \u2013 choosing tools with strong guardrails to address concerns about security, data handling, and compliance.<\/p>\n

As AI matures, the promise for security use cases will grow exponentially. If security leaders can effectively manage their concerns with the right tooling and processes, their trust in AI will grow, too.<\/p>\n

A flexible and holistic approach to AI, like the one described above, can help teams navigate adoption complexities, address current challenges, and prepare for more sophisticated AI applications as technology evolves.<\/p>\n

A flexible, security-focused AI strategy enables leaders to quickly act on emerging opportunities for impactful use cases, and ultimately facilitate the delivery of AI\u2019s promised ROI.<\/p>\n

Learn more about how security leaders are approaching AI in 2025 in IDC\u2019s white paper<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new survey of security leaders has revealed a stark contrast between AI expectations and realities \u2013 while enthusiasm for AI\u2019s potential runs high, teams are grappling with significant challenges in implementation demonstrating ROI, and realizing tangible business impact. Sponsored by Tines and AWS, IDC\u2019s Voice of Security 2025 white paper features survey data from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2390"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}