Bet365’s John Eccleshare on AI’s Dual Role in Cybersecurity
Bet365’s John Eccleshare on AI’s Dual Role in Cybersecurity
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/interviews/bet365s-john-eccleshare-ai/
Publish Date: 2026-01-26 05:20:00
Source Domain: www.infosecurity-magazine.com
John Eccleshare has seen cybersecurity evolve from the inside over his 14 years at bet365 and now, as AI rewrites the rules, he’s tackling the big questions around how we adapt and evolve.
In a conversation with Infosecurity Eccleshare, head of information security at bet365, discussed how AI is reshaping the threat landscape and, conversely, how AI is proving valuable in cybersecurity.
He also questions whether the approach to AI regulation is correct, if we are taking the right path by regulating AI itself, or whether we should consider regulating its use instead.
As AI technology accelerates, many CISOs and cybersecurity leaders are grappling with the balance between security and meeting business requirements for AI.
Infosecurity Magazine: The threat landscape is complex and evolving, is the online gambling industry facing any specific challenges?
John Eccleshare: Being an online only presence, whether it’s bet365, Amazon or eBay, the threat actors and all the vulnerabilities are consistent.
I also don’t see any disparity between the gambling industry, the retail industry or the banking industry. I think the targets are just as big for all of us.
That goes up in scale depending on your reach and ours extends around the world. The more popular you become the bigger the target becomes.
IM: Reflecting on 2025, are there any cybersecurity threats you have seen growing or even new threats?
JE: I think the uptick in AI, and particularly the attention and marketing around generative AI, has certainly affected the cybersecurity landscape but it’s important to recognize that this isn’t an entirely new phenomenon.
AI and machine learning have been used for many years, and generative AI is really an evolution of those capabilities rather than a sudden, unforeseen innovation.
Where this does impact the threat landscape is that it lowers the barrier to entry. The same types of threats still exist, but the tools to…
