# Cyber Autonomy: Automating the Hacker- Self-healing, self-adaptive, automatic cyber defense systems and their impact to the industry, society and national security

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.04405 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.04405/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 8 Dec 2020.

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Automated Cyber Defence: A Review](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.04926/) (2023)
- [Intrusion Tolerance for Networked Systems through Two-Level Feedback Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.01741/) (2024)
- [MALCDF: A Distributed Multi-Agent LLM Framework for Real-Time Cyber](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.14846/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This paper sets the context for the urgency for cyber autonomy, and the current gaps of the cyber security industry. A novel framework proposing four phases of maturity for full cyber autonomy will be discussed. The paper also reviews new and emerging cyber security automation techniques and tools, and discusses their impact on society, the perceived cyber security skills gap/shortage and national security. We will also be discussing the delicate balance between national security, human rights and ethics, and the potential demise of the manual penetration testing industry in the face of automation.