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AI is changing cybersecurity in two directions: organizations are exploring AI-enabled tools to support cyber defense, and they must secure the AI systems they build or use. It is a capability to govern—not a substitute for asset visibility, secure development, incident preparation, or human accountability.
How is AI changing cybersecurity?
AI is becoming part of the security landscape both as a possible defensive capability and as technology that itself needs protection. That distinction matters: an organization evaluating an AI-powered security tool is asking whether it helps with a defensive task, while an organization developing or deploying an AI system must also consider the security of that system across its lifecycle.
AI as a defensive capability
Government guidance identifies AI-powered cyber defense as an area of interest, but that is not evidence that every such capability is deployed or effective. A tool should be judged by the specific task it supports, how people validate and oversee its output, and whether its effectiveness has been independently demonstrated. The available CISA materials do not compare products or establish that one vendor’s system outperforms another.
AI systems as part of the attack surface
AI systems and their supporting data also need security. In November 2023, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) announced joint Guidelines for Secure AI System Development. The announcement frames security as relevant throughout AI system development; it should not be mistaken for a detailed list of controls. Organizations seeking technical requirements should consult the underlying guidelines.
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What do CISA’s AI initiatives establish?
CISA’s materials show policy direction, areas of interest, and ways to coordinate. They do not establish that a capability is universally available, that a product has been validated, or that an organization is required to adopt a particular AI tool.
| Material | What it says | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| CISA’s 2023–2024 AI roadmap | The agency set out an objective to use AI-enabled software tools to strengthen cyber defense and support its critical-infrastructure mission. It also described plans for governance, oversight, use-case review, and workplace guidance for generative technologies. | This is a historical roadmap, not proof that each planned capability was deployed or produced a measured security outcome. |
| CISA Open Innovation page | It identifies AI-powered cyber defense, adversarial-AI countermeasures, AI system assurance, and machine-learning drift detection among capabilities of interest. | An area of interest is not an endorsement, procurement decision, or demonstration of product efficacy. |
| Joint CISA/UK NCSC secure-development announcement, November 2023 | It introduces joint Guidelines for Secure AI System Development and supports applying secure-by-design thinking to AI development. | The announcement alone does not specify individual technical controls or show that a particular system is secure. |
| CISA’s JCDC AI Cybersecurity Collaboration Playbook, January 2025 | It describes voluntary processes for sharing AI-related cybersecurity incident and vulnerability information among government, industry, and international partners. | It is a collaboration mechanism, not a mandatory reporting rule. |
How should an organization assess AI security tools?
Compare tools by their role in a security program, rather than by the presence of an “AI-powered” label. The CISA materials support these evaluation dimensions, but do not provide product rankings or comparative performance results.
- Defensive task: Identify the particular activity the tool is intended to support. Do not treat a broad capability label as proof of a specific benefit.
- Human oversight and validation: Establish who reviews outputs, how questionable results are checked, and who remains accountable for decisions.
- Effectiveness evidence: Ask whether results have been independently demonstrated for the task and conditions that matter to your organization. CISA’s technology-interest listing does not supply that evidence.
- AI system security: Consider how security is addressed across development and deployment, using the joint CISA/UK NCSC guidelines for technical detail.
- Governance: Define how use cases are reviewed and how adoption is overseen. CISA’s roadmap described these as parts of its own planned approach; organizations should establish governance appropriate to their own systems and risks.
- Coordination: Consider whether voluntary information-sharing processes could support incident or vulnerability coordination in your circumstances.
- Foundational resilience: Check that AI adoption complements—not displaces—asset visibility, exposure reduction, and incident preparation.
What should organizations do alongside AI adoption?
Begin with basic exposure management. CISA’s Internet Exposure Reduction Guidance, published June 4, 2025, recommends identifying internet-accessible assets, deciding which exposures are necessary, and mitigating risk to those that must remain exposed.
- Inventory internet-accessible assets. Establish what is reachable from the internet so that exposure decisions are made against a known set of assets.
- Decide which exposures are necessary. Retain public access only where it serves an identified need.
- Mitigate risk on assets that remain exposed. Apply appropriate protections to the systems that cannot be taken off the internet.
- Govern AI use cases and oversight. Decide how proposed AI uses are reviewed and who is accountable for their operation. CISA’s 2023–2024 roadmap treated governance and oversight as part of adoption planning.
- Address security across AI development. Use the joint CISA/UK NCSC secure-development guidelines as the reference for technical considerations; the announcement is not itself a control checklist.
- Prepare for incidents and coordination. CISA’s StopRansomware guide is a source for organizational preparation and mitigation, although it is not an AI-specific defense guide. For AI-related cybersecurity incidents and vulnerabilities, the January 2025 JCDC playbook describes voluntary sharing processes.
What do current cybersecurity baselines leave open?
CISA’s Cybersecurity Performance Goals FAQ says the current version of the goals does not explicitly address assessments tailored to generative-AI-based cyber threats. Keep that limitation narrow: it describes the CPG version covered by the FAQ, not an absence of all CISA guidance on AI. CISA has separately published or announced AI-related materials on secure development, collaboration, and defensive capabilities.
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The evidence here is chiefly official U.S. government guidance, with UK NCSC participation in the secure-development work. It establishes policy direction and recommended practices, not independent measurements of AI security-product efficacy or a complete account of global cyber threats. Organizations should therefore treat AI as one component of a governed security program and assess any claimed defensive benefit on its own merits.
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