### About the "Cyber Frontiers" initiative

As AI becomes more embedded in cybersecurity, it is transforming how organizations innovate and defend against threats. The dynamic relationship between AI and cybersecurity can be examined through three lenses.


### Cybersecurity for AI

The use of AI is creating an expanded attack surface that might be exploited by threat actors. Existing methods need to be extended to address new vulnerabilities that are inherent in AI, but that may not be as relevant for “classical” IT systems.


### The use of AI by defenders

Cyber defenders are harnessing AI to enhance cybersecurity capabilities, facilitating wider prevention, more accurate threat detection, autonomous remediation and more rapid and effective incident response.


### The (mis)use of AI by threat actors

Threat actors are using AI to enhance their capabilities and make their tactics, techniques and procedures more potent, and attacks more effective.


## A closer look at our past efforts


## Cybersecurity for AI

Launched in 2024, the first phase of the "Cyber Frontiers" initiative, led by World Economic Forum's Centre for Cybersecurity in collaboration with the University of Oxford's Global Cyber Security Capacity Center (GCSCC) focused on identifying the cybersecurity associated with AI.It also sought to identify practices that can help organisations mitigate emerging cyber threats as they deploy AI technologies across various contexts.


## The business benefits of adopting AI can be considerable, but the cyber risks of embedding these technologies into an organization are not always considered from the outset.

In the first phase of the "Cyber Frontiers" initiative, we:


### Identified key risks

We identified critical cyber-risk scenarios posed by the adoption and misuse of AI technologies across organizations and industries.


### Built knowledge

We equipped organisations with insights to understand the cyber risks introduced by AI adoption.


### Developed guidance

We provided guidance to help business and cyber leaders mitigate the cyber risks associated with AI technologies.


## Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity: Balancing Risks and Rewards

This first phase of the initiative was completed in January 2025 with the publishing of the report “Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity: Balancing Risks and Rewards" .


## The rise of AI-driven cyber threats demands faster and smarter security responses.

Our "Cyber Frontiers" initiative, therefore, seeks to:


### Identify opportunities for AI to strengthen present-day cyber defense capabilities.


### Define pathways to becoming an AI-enabled cybersecurity organization.


### Anticipate future applications of AI technologies in cybersecurity.


## Empowering Defenders: AI for Cybersecurity

The second phase of the initiative was completed in May 2026 with the publishing of the report "Empowering Defenders: AI for Cybersecurity".  The report provides practical guidance for organizations on using AI to strengthen cyber defenses, featuring 20 real-world case studies from World Economic Forum partners on improving vulnerability detection, threat intelligence, and protection against phishing and other threats.

[Read the Report](https://www.weforum.org/publications/empowering-defenders-ai-for-cybersecurity/)


### Join us in shaping Cyber Frontiers

Learn about how your organization can partner with our initiative.

[Get involved](https://initiatives.weforum.org/ai-cyber-initiative/get-involved)