diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/ci/ci_variable_list/components/ci_variable_drawer.vue b/app/assets/javascripts/ci/ci_variable_list/components/ci_variable_drawer.vue
index 55f1bac06d9da5bd8a9f92a2d96f633bcd641a4d..30bbee76de73f1bd1c2156dda656e96b6eddfb54 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/ci/ci_variable_list/components/ci_variable_drawer.vue
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/ci/ci_variable_list/components/ci_variable_drawer.vue
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ export default {
     return {
       isMutationAlertVisible: false,
       variable: { ...defaultVariableState, ...this.selectedVariable },
-      visibility: VISIBILITY_VISIBLE,
+      visibility: VISIBILITY_MASKED,
       trackedValidationErrorProperty: undefined,
     };
   },
@@ -403,7 +403,7 @@ export default {
     resetForm() {
       this.variable = { ...this.defaultVariableState };
 
-      this.visibility = VISIBILITY_VISIBLE;
+      this.visibility = VISIBILITY_MASKED;
     },
     setEnvironmentScope(scope) {
       this.variable = { ...this.variable, environmentScope: scope };
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/ci/ci_variable_list/constants.js b/app/assets/javascripts/ci/ci_variable_list/constants.js
index 21faa7e6115788f739c265107db9dad8fbf72760..3966489e3c166c25d7ef5311e654338802f12fd5 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/ci/ci_variable_list/constants.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/ci/ci_variable_list/constants.js
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ export const defaultVariableState = {
   description: null,
   environmentScope: '*',
   key: '',
-  masked: false,
+  masked: true,
   hidden: false,
   protected: false,
   raw: false,
diff --git a/spec/frontend/ci/ci_variable_list/components/ci_variable_drawer_spec.js b/spec/frontend/ci/ci_variable_list/components/ci_variable_drawer_spec.js
index f4798affa717e90bf72252a3a4ba66574a02b393..93cbd2d2b2310add37e7c137d6bf4508ca1ea3a5 100644
--- a/spec/frontend/ci/ci_variable_list/components/ci_variable_drawer_spec.js
+++ b/spec/frontend/ci/ci_variable_list/components/ci_variable_drawer_spec.js
@@ -392,8 +392,8 @@ describe('CI Variable Drawer', () => {
           createComponent({ props: { areHiddenVariablesAvailable: true } });
         });
 
-        it('is set to visible by default', () => {
-          expect(findVisibilityRadioGroup().attributes('checked')).toBe(VISIBILITY_VISIBLE);
+        it('is set to masked by default', () => {
+          expect(findVisibilityRadioGroup().attributes('checked')).toBe(VISIBILITY_MASKED);
         });
 
         it.each`
@@ -423,16 +423,15 @@ describe('CI Variable Drawer', () => {
             props: {
               selectedVariable: {
                 ...mockProjectVariableFileType,
-                masked: true,
-                hidden: true,
+                masked: false,
               },
             },
           });
 
-          expect(findVisibilityRadioGroup().attributes('checked')).toBe(VISIBILITY_HIDDEN);
+          expect(findVisibilityRadioGroup().attributes('checked')).toBe(VISIBILITY_VISIBLE);
           await wrapper.setProps({ mutationResponse: { message: 'Success', hasError: false } });
 
-          expect(findVisibilityRadioGroup().attributes('checked')).toBe(VISIBILITY_VISIBLE);
+          expect(findVisibilityRadioGroup().attributes('checked')).toBe(VISIBILITY_MASKED);
         });
       });
 
diff --git a/spec/support/shared_examples/features/variable_list_drawer_shared_examples.rb b/spec/support/shared_examples/features/variable_list_drawer_shared_examples.rb
index 19751bdf27d17a42a81f935eb067ea6643810b40..e07d4d8d487c7cc5ee3d992b554b9a1ae32a2e78 100644
--- a/spec/support/shared_examples/features/variable_list_drawer_shared_examples.rb
+++ b/spec/support/shared_examples/features/variable_list_drawer_shared_examples.rb
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@
     end
   end
 
-  it 'defaults to unmasked, expanded' do
+  it 'defaults to masked, expanded' do
     open_drawer
 
     fill_variable('NEW_KEY')
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
     page.within('[data-testid="ci-variable-table"]') do
       key_column = first(".js-ci-variable-row:nth-child(1) td[data-label='#{s_('CiVariables|Key')}']")
 
-      expect(key_column).not_to have_content(s_('CiVariables|Masked'))
+      expect(key_column).to have_content(s_('CiVariables|Masked'))
       expect(key_column).to have_content(s_('CiVariables|Expanded'))
     end
   end