mlsanityData to 7 Oct 2026

Large Language Models in Cybersecurity: State-of-the-Art

arXiv 2402.00891 ↗First posted 30 Jan 2024cs.CR cs.AI cs.CLcited by 34

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Abstract (arXiv)

The rise of Large Language Models (LLMs) has revolutionized our comprehension of intelligence bringing us closer to Artificial Intelligence. Since their introduction, researchers have actively explored the applications of LLMs across diverse fields, significantly elevating capabilities. Cybersecurity, traditionally resistant to data-driven solutions and slow to embrace machine learning, stands out as a domain. This study examines the existing literature, providing a thorough characterization of both defensive and adversarial applications of LLMs within the realm of cybersecurity. Our review not only surveys and categorizes the current landscape but also identifies critical research gaps. By evaluating both offensive and defensive applications, we aim to provide a holistic understanding of the potential risks and opportunities associated with LLM-driven cybersecurity.

Key facts. Cited by 34 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Builds on 54 of its 102 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 30 Jan 2024.

Builds on

54 of 102 references.

References · 54

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38 more
  1. 2023HuaTuo: Tuning LLaMA Model with Chinese Medical Knowledgecited by 161
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50 most cited of 54 All 54 (JSON)

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Cited by year (2026 to 7 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2024: 11; 2025: 19; 2026: 4.

34 papers.

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  1. 2024When LLMs Meet Cybersecurity: A Systematic Literature Reviewcited by 70
  2. 2024Large Language Models for Cyber Security: A Systematic Literature Reviewcited by 65
  3. 2024HackSynth: LLM Agent and Evaluation Framework for Autonomous Penetration Testingcited by 35
  4. 2025Llama-3.1-FoundationAI-SecurityLLM-8B-Instruct Technical Reportcited by 21
  5. 2024ProFLingo: A Fingerprinting-based Intellectual Property Protection Scheme for Large Language Modelscited by 15
  6. 2025CyberRAG: An Agentic RAG cyber attack classification and reporting toolcited by 11
  7. 2024Transfer Learning in Pre-Trained Large Language Models for Malware Detection Based on System Callscited by 8
  8. 2024Distributed Threat Intelligence at the Edge Devices: A Large Language Model-Driven Approachcited by 6
  9. 2025A Unified Framework for Human AI Collaboration in Security Operations Centers with Trusted Autonomycited by 6
  10. 2024BreachSeek: A Multi-Agent Automated Penetration Testercited by 5
  11. 2024CmdCaliper: A Semantic-Aware Command-Line Embedding Model and Dataset for Security Researchcited by 5
  12. 2025Can Language Models Falsify? Evaluating Algorithmic Reasoning with Counterexample Creationcited by 5
22 more
  1. 2024Large Multimodal Agents for Accurate Phishing Detection with Enhanced Token Optimization and Cost Reductioncited by 4
  2. 2025SpecPipe: Accelerating Pipeline Parallelism-based LLM Inference with Speculative Decodingcited by 4
  3. 2024HULLMI: Human vs LLM identification with explainabilitycited by 3
  4. 2025OMNISEC: LLM-Driven Provenance-based Intrusion Detection via Retrieval-Augmented Behavior Promptingcited by 3
  5. 2025AutoBnB-RAG: Enhancing Multi-Agent Incident Response with Retrieval-Augmented Generationcited by 3
  6. 2025Toward Cybersecurity-Expert Small Language Modelscited by 3
  7. 2025SoK: Are Watermarks in LLMs Ready for Deployment?cited by 2
  8. 2025Securing Educational LLMs: A Generalised Taxonomy of Attacks on LLMs and DREAD Risk Assessmentcited by 2
  9. 2025Adapting Large Language Models to Emerging Cybersecurity using Retrieval Augmented Generationcited by 2
  10. 2025The Evolution of Agentic AI in Cybersecurity: From Single LLM Reasoners to Multi-Agent Systems and Autonomous Pipelinescited by 2
  11. 2024Psychological Profiling in Cybersecurity: A Look at LLMs and Psycholinguistic Featurescited by 1
  12. 2025Trustworthy GNNs with LLMs: A Systematic Review and Taxonomycited by 1
  13. 2025Vulnerability Mitigation System (VMS): LLM Agent and Evaluation Framework for Autonomous Penetration Testingcited by 1
  14. 2026LanG -- A Governance-Aware Agentic AI Platform for Unified Security Operationscited by 1
  15. 2026Post-Hoc Trajectory-Risk Certification for Modular LLM-Based Security Agentscited by 1
  16. 2025Beyond Trusting Trust: Multi-Model Validation for Robust Code Generationcited by 0
  17. 2025How Good LLM-Generated Password Policies Are?cited by 0
  18. 2025CyGATE: Game-Theoretic Cyber Attack-Defense Engine for Patch Strategy Optimizationcited by 0
  19. 2025From Capabilities to Performance: Evaluating Key Functional Properties of LLM Architectures in Penetration Testingcited by 0
  20. 2025CLASP: Cost-Optimized LLM-based Agentic System for Phishing Detectioncited by 0
  21. 2026SentinelSphere: Integrating AI-Powered Real-Time Threat Detection with Cybersecurity Awareness Trainingcited by 0
  22. 2026When Prompts Become Payloads: A Framework for Mitigating SQL Injection Attacks in Large Language Model-Driven Applicationscited by 0