AI Cybercrime and the Opportunity for a Career

Generative AI has lowered the bar to entry everywhere, you can be a music composer, an artist, a writer or coder with a set of prompts. You can also be a cybercriminal with minimal effort.

Generative AI has made impersonation easier and enabled social engineering to occur at scale. This shift means sophisticated attacks are no longer limited to highly skilled actors, increasing both the frequency and reach of cyber threats.

“Cyber threats do not discriminate, and neither can our approach to defending against them. Cyber capability must expand beyond traditional technical roles and draw in people from diverse backgrounds such as psychology, marketing and leadership,” says Associate Professor Leanne Ngo, Director of Student Engagement and Employability at La Trobe University.

“Just as important is diversity across experience levels, cultures, genders and life stages. This diversity is essential to understanding the human element of cyber threats, particularly as social engineering and impersonation attacks become more prevalent targeting people, not just systems.”

The hardest cyber problems don't come with a playbook, and they won't be solved by AI alone. AI already supports a wide range of cyber functions, from threat analysis and pattern recognition to vulnerability discovery, automation of routine tasks and decision support.

AI cannot replace core skills like human judgment, cultural awareness, or the ability to question assumptions and make sense of complex, uncertain situations. So as AI progresses, these skills will become increasingly valuable.

Cybersecurity work often sits in grey areas with no clear precedent, where human curiosity, problem-solving and an understanding of people and organisational behaviour remain essential. So, while AI will absolutely change cyber roles, it is more likely to reshape them than replace them.

Australia faces a critical shortage of around 30,000 skilled cyber workers, and while strong computer science foundations remain essential, the challenge is no longer purely technical. Lifting national cyber resilience requires building capability across the entire workforce, quickly and sustainably. Interdisciplinary skills are needed to manage real-world cyber risks across organisations and communities. This includes not only technical capability, but also human factors, risk and governance, communication and decision-making in cybersecurity.

La Trobe University, through its partnership with Risepoint, has developed short online courses designed for people looking to upskill, reskill or transition into cybersecurity careers. These courses combine industry insight, modern learning design and high-touch student support. National demand supports this approach: Risepoint’s 2025 Voice of the Online Learner report found that 53% of students are open to short online certificates and micro-credentials as faster pathways into in-demand fields like cybersecurity.

Short-form learning can be a great way for high school students to explore subjects and passions that previously were only accessible via traditional tertiary education. In fact, many secondary school students are already doing this through enrichment, extension and outreach programs that support curious and motivated learners.

“When offered as a complementary way to learn rather than a default option, short-form learning can build practical problem-solving skills, help students explore interests alongside their core studies, and show how learning connects to real-world impact, which reinforces the idea that learning doesn’t stop at graduation.”

The traditional degree isn't dying, but the idea that it's enough on its own is. That’s why the three-to-four-year degree is being reshaped as employers increasingly look beyond credentials to also consider capabilities such as curiosity, problem solving and comfort with uncertainty.

“Many of the challenges graduates face are still emerging, which shifts the focus from what someone knows at graduation to how well they continue to learn, adapt and add value in real contexts. Degrees are shifting from being the single-entry point into a profession to being one part of a broader learning journey that supports ongoing upskilling and career change over time,” Associate Professor Ngo says.

According to recent research from Risepoint, 84% of online learners now agree their degree is significant in helping them achieve career goals, and 73% believe they need additional credentials beyond a bachelor's degree to improve their career prospects. This demonstrates that degrees remain important but are increasingly seen as a strong foundation, not the finish line.

At the same time, the growth of online education providers reinforces the need for quality and differentiation. Traditional institutions are evolving and delivering high-quality online education, drawing on decades of teaching and learning expertise while adding value through strong partnerships and collaboration.

“Their strength lies in the depth of educational practice, the quality of the learning experience, and sustained support for learners across different stages of study and career. In other words, the competition isn’t just about who can offer online learning; it’s about who can offer online learning that actually works,” Ngo says.

IT has always evolved at pace, but the speed of change has accelerated significantly in recent years. In fast-moving fields like IT, relevance depends on close collaboration between education and industry, and on preparing learners to keep up long after a course ends.

“This is why course design must focus on ongoing capability development rather than static knowledge, supported through co-design and co-delivery with industry, students, community partners and alumni,” she says.

“For teaching staff, this means staying closely connected to industry and professional practice. It involves continually developing their teaching through scholarly practice, with a strong emphasis on real-world learning to enhance learning design, and adapting approaches so teaching remains responsive to evolving professional contexts. The goal is not just to teach what’s current today, but to prepare students to stay current in the years ahead.”

Some 84% of learners now agree that generative AI skills are critical in the contemporary workplace (up from 61% in 2024), and 32% report their universities are integrating generative AI technologies into the curriculum, though this still represents a significant gap that must be closed.

AI is probably where the internet was in 2000. The internet cleanout around the dotcom bust happened when the hype outpaced reality, and that’s when many early online businesses fell away. But it’s important to understand that the technology didn't disappear, it actually matured and became embedded in everyday life.

“I see AI in a similar place now. In the near future, I expect a stronger focus on human judgment, ethics and accountability, greater demand for people who understand what AI can do, where it adds value, where it falls short, and can supervise and challenge its outputs, alongside a shift toward learning with AI rather than around it. Those who stay curious, collaborative and committed to continuous learning will be the ones who thrive.

“We're already seeing this evolution: 60% of online learners now believe they can gain a promotion with a 4-subject graduate certificate rather than committing to a full master's (up from 43% last year), and 53% are open to short online certificates or micro-credentials (up from just 25%). This shows the market is shifting toward flexible, stackable, career-focused learning pathways.”