Hack The Box, a leading cybersecurity training provider, has introduced the HTB AI Range, a simulated environment that lets organizations evaluate autonomous AI security agents under realistic conditions while maintaining human oversight. The platform is designed to help users gauge how effectively AI—alone or in tandem with human teams—can defend infrastructure.
AI models bring their own set of vulnerabilities that compound existing risks in traditional IT environments. Before deploying agentic or AI‑driven cybersecurity tools at scale, HTB proposes a testing arena where AI agents and human defenders collaborate under pressure, providing a measurable benchmark of their combined cyber‑defense capabilities.
How the HTB AI Range works
The AI Range mimics the complexity of an enterprise network with thousands of offensive and defensive assets that are continuously refreshed. It aligns with established cybersecurity frameworks such as MITRE ATT&CK, the NIST/NICE guidelines, and the OWASP Top 10, enabling organizations to map test scenarios to standards that drive compliance and risk management.
In a recent AI‑vs‑human capture‑the‑flag (CTF) exercise, autonomous agents solved 19 of 20 basic challenges, but human teams outperformed the AI in multi‑step, high‑complexity scenarios. The results highlight that while AI excels at speed and pattern recognition, it still struggles with nuanced, multi‑stage operations—a gap that underscores the enduring value of human expertise in high‑stakes environments.
Testing and closing the skills gap
Enterprises can leverage the AI Range to validate whether existing security controls hold up against AI‑powered attacks, expose their security teams to emerging threat vectors, and inform the development of more resilient, agentic defense tools. Such hands‑on exercises also provide concrete data to justify cybersecurity budgets to CFOs and board members.
HTB positions the AI Range as a continuous testing platform rather than a one‑off audit. By integrating with a Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) model, organizations can move beyond static penetration tests toward ongoing validation of their defensive posture.
Looking ahead, HTB plans to launch an AI Red‑Teamer Certification early next year, aimed at quantifying the skills required to harden AI‑focused defenses and to establish industry‑wide competency standards.
As AI matures and frameworks such as MITRE ATLAS gain traction, platforms like the HTB AI Range are likely to become standard components of enterprise security programs, complementing layered defenses and boosting organizational resilience.
“Hack The Box is where AI agents and humans learn to operate under real pressure together,” said Gerasimos Marketos, chief product officer at Hack The Box. “We’re addressing the urgent need to continuously validate AI systems in realistic operational contexts where stakes are high and human oversight remains vital. The HTB AI Range makes that possible.”
Haris Pylarinos, CEO and founder of Hack The Box, added, “For over two years we’ve been advancing AI‑driven learning paths, labs, and research where machines and humans compete, collaborate, and co‑evolve. With the HTB AI Range, we’re not reacting to AI’s rise in cyber; we’re defining how defense evolves alongside it. This is how cybersecurity advances: not through fear, but through mastery.”
Original article, Author: Samuel Thompson. If you wish to reprint this article, please indicate the source:https://aicnbc.com/13991.html
