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Bugcrowd’s 2024 survey found that 82% of its surveyed hackers believe the AI threat landscape is evolving too quickly to secure adequately. That is a finding about respondents’ views—not proof that AI threats are objectively outpacing defenses or a representative estimate of all hackers.

What the 82% figure means

Bugcrowd’s Inside the Mind of a Hacker 2024 report says it analyzed 1,300 survey responses from hackers. The report lists 82% as believing the AI threat landscape is evolving too fast to adequately secure. The headline’s “over 80 percent” refers to that result. Bugcrowd’s report does not establish that the respondents represent hackers as a whole.

The result captures perceptions, not measured attack growth, vulnerability-discovery rates, or security failures. The cited sources do not provide the survey’s detailed sampling frame, field dates, weighting method, question wording for every finding, or uncertainty interval. It therefore cannot answer whether AI threats are objectively advancing faster than organizations can defend against them.

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What the survey says about AI and hacking

Bugcrowd’s report also says 71% of respondents believe AI technologies increase the value of hacking, while 74% say AI makes hacking more accessible. These are respondents’ opinions, not measurements of how much AI changes hacking outcomes.

In an October 16, 2024 report on the survey, BetaNews said 77% of respondents reported adopting generative AI tools, up 13 percentage points from 2023. BetaNews also reported that 93% agreed companies using AI tools had created a new attack vector, and 73% felt confident they could uncover vulnerabilities in AI-powered apps. These figures are attributed to the Bugcrowd survey as reported by BetaNews; they do not show how often respondents found exploitable flaws or how well organizations addressed them. Read BetaNews’s coverage.

The combination of concern and confidence matters: respondents saw AI use as creating security risks, but many also felt capable of testing AI-powered applications. The findings do not support a simple conclusion that defenders cannot keep up.

What organizations can take from the findings

The survey is a signal to examine how AI is being used and secured, not a risk assessment for any particular company. Organizations can identify AI-enabled applications and workflows, understand what data and permissions they expose, and test relevant systems for vulnerabilities. The appropriate scope depends on the organization’s systems and risks; the survey does not determine which service or testing approach is right.

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Choose testing to match the question

  • AI security assessment: Focuses evaluation on AI systems and their security concerns.
  • Penetration testing: Provides structured testing against an agreed scope.
  • Bug bounty: Supports ongoing external vulnerability discovery within program rules.
  • Vulnerability disclosure program: Establishes how outside researchers can report vulnerabilities and how the organization handles them.
  • Red teaming: Simulates adversary activity to examine defenses and response.

These are distinct approaches, not interchangeable guarantees. Bugcrowd lists these categories among its services and use cases, but its site does not establish comparative effectiveness or which option suits a given organization. See Bugcrowd’s current service categories.

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How to read the headline responsibly

“Over 80 percent of hackers” is shorthand for 82% of the hackers surveyed by Bugcrowd—not all hackers, security professionals, or organizations. The report is useful for understanding what those respondents think and report doing with AI. It should not be treated as a forecast, a measurement of threat velocity, or evidence that a particular company is insecure.

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