Security professionals are increasingly leveraging the power of AI to enhance security operations and detect and respond to cybersecurity threats, but they also need to harden networks against AI-based attacks. This has led many security professionals to determine whether earning an AI security certification will improve their expertise and employability.
Is an AI security certification important, especially given that AI technology itself is in its infancy? Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of earning a professional AI certification, and some of the main options to consider if you want to get one in the future.
Benefits of AI Security Certification
The main benefits of earning an AI security certification are:
- Demonstrate specialized knowledge. AI Security certifications can demonstrate a practitioner’s expert understanding of how AI and machine learning can be applied to cybersecurity challenges. This may be particularly valuable in roles that focus on threat detection, fraud prevention, and incident response using AI tools.
- Increase marketability and career advancement. As the demand for AI expertise increases, certifications can help differentiate candidates in a competitive job market. For practitioners looking to advance into professional roles or leadership positions, an AI-focused certification can demonstrate a commitment to staying current with technological advances.
- Gain a better understanding of AI security risks. AI introduces new vulnerabilities and attack vectors, including adversarial attacks, data poisoning, and model inversion. Certifications often cover these topics and help professionals better understand risks and how to address them.
- Keep your skills up to date. Given the rapid evolution of AI technology, certifications help ensure practitioners are familiar with the latest tools, frameworks, and techniques used in AI-based security. Some certifications require ongoing training to maintain certification. This is recommended given the rapidly changing technology and corporate security environment.
Disadvantages of AI Security Certification
While AI certifications have benefits, they also have drawbacks, including:
- A rapidly changing field. AI is a developing field, especially in cybersecurity. Certifications can quickly become outdated as new threats or advances in AI emerge. This currently makes it difficult to determine the long-term value of such credentials.
- Lack of standardization. Currently, there are no widely recognized standards for AI security certification. This can make it difficult for employers to assess the value of different qualifications, leading to uncertainty as to which ones truly reflect expertise.
- Time and financial investment. Obtaining AI security credentials can be expensive and time-consuming. For many practitioners, the ROI is not immediately obvious, especially if their current role does not specifically require AI expertise.
- Limited relevance to work. While AI skills are becoming increasingly valuable, not all cybersecurity roles require deep knowledge of AI or machine learning. For practitioners whose work does not directly involve AI-based tools, certifications may not provide significant career benefits.
Is an AI Security Certification Right for You?
Considering the pros and cons, the value of an AI security endorsement depends on several factors, including the professional’s current role, career aspirations, and the specific qualifications being considered.
Those looking to work in specialized areas such as AI-driven threat intelligence or AI governance may find it worthwhile to earn an AI-specific certification. However, for practitioners in non-AI-focused roles, the benefits of such certifications are less clear.
Trusted AI security certification
If you’re considering earning an AI security certification, check out the list below of currently available credentials.
Certified AI Security Fundamentals
Certified AI Security Fundamentals (CAISF) from training provider Tonex Inc. is a two-day course aimed at IT professionals and cybersecurity specialists who want to learn how to protect their AI systems and data from cyber threats. This course covers the following areas:
- AI Security Overview (20%).
- Fundamentals of AI Technology (20%).
- AI system risks and threats (20%).
- Security measures for AI systems (25%).
- Regulatory compliance and ethics in AI security (15%).
This course includes lectures, discussions, hands-on experience, and project-based learning. Includes quizzes, assignments, and capstone projects. Participants must pass the CAISF training exam, which consists of multiple choice, true/false, scenario-based, fill-in-the-blank, matching, and short-answer questions, with a score of 70% or higher.
This course costs $2,199 and is held live online. Check the CAISF website for dates.
Generative AI certified in cybersecurity field
This program by the Global Skill Development Council is designed for CIOs, CTOs, and security professionals. Covers the skills and knowledge needed to become a generative AI (GenAI) security expert. The syllabus includes the following modules:
- Basics of generative AI.
- Fundamentals of Cyber Security.
- The power of generative adversarial networks (GANs).
- Variational autoencoder (VAE) behavior.
- Deep reinforcement learning in the context of cybersecurity.
- Security and ethical considerations in AI and cybersecurity.
- Use cases and hands-on demos using generative AI tools.
This course includes AI interview practice and a capstone project to apply your learning to real-world scenarios. The final exam is a 40-question multiple-choice exam that is taken in 90 minutes and requires a passing score of 65%. The program costs $400.
AI Security and Governance Certification
Software vendor Securiti’s AI Security & Governance certification is a free, on-demand online course that covers GenAI, global AI law, AI risk management, and more across the following modules:
- An overview of AI and generative AI.
- AI governance overview.
- AI model discovery.
- AI risk assessment.
- Understand the relationship between data and AI.
- Control of data input and output.
- AI regulatory compliance.
- AI Governance Program and Management.
Eight quizzes and a certification exam are required to complete the program. Courses typically take 2 to 2.5 hours to complete.
IBM Generative AI for Cybersecurity Professionals Specialization
IBM Generative AI for Cybersecurity Professionals Specialization on Coursera is an entry-level to intermediate-level online program that includes the following courses:
- Generative AI: Overview and applications. This 6 hour course Learn about GenAI and identification AI, GenAI capabilities and use cases, vertical applications of AI, and GenAI models and tools.
- Generative AI: Fundamentals of Prompted Engineering. This 7-hour course includes best practices for creating prompts, examples of prompts, common prompting techniques, and prompt engineering tools.
- Generative AI: Enhance your cybersecurity career. This 9-hour course covers GenAI and cybersecurity, GenAI techniques for cybersecurity scenarios, using GenAI for threat prevention, GenAI-based attacks, and how to prevent attacks on GenAI models.
Self-paced courses include videos, readings, discussions, hands-on exercises, and other projects. Each course includes 7-10 practice quizzes and graded quizzes that require a passing score of 75%. The final module’s cumulative scoring quiz contains seven multiple-choice questions with a passing score of 70%.
The program costs $49 per month and has an estimated completion time of three months based on approximately five hours of coursework per week.
Should I sit and wait?
The list above is just a sampling of the certifications currently available, and we are sure to see more AI-oriented security certifications introduced in the coming years.
Such certifications can offer several advantages for cybersecurity professionals, especially those looking to specialize or advance their careers in AI-driven roles. However, given the field’s rapid evolution and lack of standards, practitioners should carefully evaluate the relevance and potential ROI of obtaining certification before investing time and money.
Start with our free AI Security course. For many people, staying informed and gaining real-world experience in AI development may be a more realistic approach until the value of AI certifications becomes more clear.
Jerald Murphy is Senior Vice President of Research and Consulting at Nemertes Research. With over 30 years of technology experience, Murphy has worked on a variety of technology topics including neural networking research, integrated circuit design, computer programming, and global data center design.
Sharon Shea is the executive editor of TechTarget Security.
