AI in Offensive and Defensive Cybersecurity

This book offers a comprehensive and accessible exploration of AI’s dual-use impact on cyber conflict, bridging advanced technical concepts with real-world application for cybersecurity professionals, AI developers, policymakers, and strategists. Through clear explanations, anonymized case studies, and practical insights, it examines how AI fuels automated vulnerability discovery, evasive malware, and AI-generated disinformation, while also revolutionizing threat detection, incident response, and proactive defense. Beyond the technology itself, the book confronts the ethical, societal, and policy challenges posed by autonomous systems operating at digital scale, addressing issues of accountability, bias, escalation, and human oversight. By illuminating both the offensive and defensive dimensions of AI in cyberspace, this essential guide equips readers not only to understand today’s rapidly evolving threat landscape, but to anticipate and shape the future of security in an interconnected world where mastering AI is no longer optional; it is imperative.