Will AI/ML Solve the Cybersecurity Skills Gap?

According to research into the UK cyber security labor market, carried out on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), approximately 680,000 businesses (50%) have a basic skills gap. The people in charge of cybersecurity in those businesses lack the confidence to carry out the basic tasks laid out in the government-endorsed Cyber Essentials scheme and are not getting support from external cybersecurity providers to plug that gap. It seems to be a problem that we cannot get away from, but part of the answer may lay in the way in which new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can support the fight through the automation of some tasks and relieve already stretched cybersecurity staff to focus on higher-value tasks within their role. AI and ML have had several false dawns over their history, usually due to unrealistic expectations and misrepresentation in the mainstream media. But these technologies have advanced immensely and are a part of our everyday lives.