Artificial intelligence introduces novel cybersecurity complexities and necessitates robust governance
The rise of AI is not just another shift. It’s a sharp curve in how we manage and defend enterprise systems. Traditional tools aren’t equipped to handle what’s coming. The real concern isn’t just brute-force algorithms, it’s intelligent autonomy. We’re now seeing agentic AI, systems that can act independently with minimal input. That capability presents efficiency gains, to a point. But it also generates blind spots: shadow AI, unauthorized access, and machine-initiated misuse.
Most AI developers aren’t thinking about security. Their goal is speed and performance, not protection. As companies increasingly integrate AI into development pipelines, marketing stacks, or customer service agents, they often lose visibility into how these tools are being used, or abused. If your AI system can access services it shouldn’t or process data without clear controls, it becomes a liability. Malicious users know this. They’re not worried about brute force anymore, they’re betting on compromised logic and lazy oversight.
If you don’t already have clear AI governance in place, that’s an urgent priority. You need to understand who’s using AI in your company, for what purpose, and what systems it’s touching. Your visibility needs to be real-time, not quarterly audit material. You also need access controls specifically tuned for AI agents. Even unintentional misuse, like an employee pasting sensitive data into an AI chatbot, can be exploited.
You don’t need to slow innovation to do this. But you do need to align your tech capabilities with operational resilience.
Prakash Mana, CEO of Cloudbrink, makes one thing clear: “AI is the next big hurdle for security teams.” He’s not wrong. If AI is driving part of your business, and it probably is, then managing that power without losing control is your new baseline for security. Treat it seriously, or it will be treated for you.
Human behavior remains the most persistent vulnerability
No matter how advanced our systems become, there’s one variable that rarely follows protocol, people. This is not a new insight, but it’s one that continues to be underestimated in high-stakes environments. Technical defenses can be optimized, automated, and scaled. Human behavior can’t. It’s inconsistent, error-prone, and often influenced by pressure, fatigue, or poor judgment.
Cyber attackers understand this, which is why social engineering continues to be one of the most effective methods of breaching sophisticated infrastructures. It’s about exploiting your people. According to Proofpoint’s 2025 Voice of the CISO report, three in five CISOs in Singapore identify employees as the primary risk to their cybersecurity posture. That’s a structural flaw if ignored.
Training programs aren’t enough. One-time seminars won’t rewire behavior. What you need is a constant, adaptive process that identifies where high-risk individuals exist within your organization, and then gives them the tools to improve. It’s about behavioral development, not punishment or policy alone. This includes establishing continuous learning programs, real-world simulations, and tracking engagement to ensure the message is landing.
You don’t get resilience from awareness alone. You need habits that protect systems under real pressure. That only happens when your culture treats security not as someone else’s job, but everyone’s job.
JP Yu, Vice President for Southeast Asia and Korea at Proofpoint, hits the point directly: “Cybersecurity is fundamentally a human risk, not just a technology issue.” He’s not talking theory. Proofpoint’s own Human Factor report shows that 25% of advanced persistent threat campaigns rely entirely on social engineering to gain access. That figure reflects a persistent pattern, people are the first entry point, whether they recognize it or not.
The takeaway here is clear: if you’re a C-suite leader and you haven’t made behavioral security part of your strategic plan, you’ve left a critical system unguarded. The tools are available. Now it’s about leadership, execution, and treating this issue with the same intensity we bring to technology investment.
The advent of quantum computing escalates identity security risks
Quantum computing has become operationally relevant. You don’t have to wait for mainstream quantum machines to feel the risk. State-aligned adversaries are already positioning themselves across critical infrastructure and peripheral systems, preemptively setting up access before quantum-grade decryption becomes widely accessible.
Most corporate systems weren’t built with post-quantum resilience in mind. Encryption protocols that protect your customer data, financials, IP, and identity platforms today may be obsolete tomorrow. That puts identity security under direct threat. Any authentication process that relies on outdated cryptographic layers becomes a target, even if the actual exploit is delayed.
The priority is twofold: secure your current systems with higher baseline standards and create a rapid pathway to post-quantum cryptography adoption. Karl Holmqvist, Founder and CEO of Lastwall, puts a spotlight on the weakness most leaders overlook, edge devices and ‘forgotten’ infrastructure, like routers, VPNs, and firewalls. These systems often run without proper logging or authentication hardening. That’s precisely where attackers will move first.
Holmqvist advises enabling forensic-grade logging across these systems, adopting phishing-resistant multifactor authentication for admin credentials, and deploying cryptographic registries that keep a real-time record of your encryption posture. Speed also matters. You need to measure how fast your security team can implement changes. Holmqvist calls this “change-latency,” and you should be tracking it by default.
Post-quantum standards are coming. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has previewed the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 203, 204, and 205, each designed to future-proof encryption. If your roadmap doesn’t include migration timelines for these cryptographic updates, you’re behind.
This is an execution challenge. You don’t need to become a quantum physicist. But ignoring the clear steps that can be taken today, stronger logs, better identity controls, encryption visibility, puts your long-term resilience at risk. The tech is already evolving. Operations need to keep up.
Cybersecurity awareness month underscores the necessity of proactive readiness and resilience
This October marks the 22nd year of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and the message hasn’t changed, because it still needs to be heard. “Secure Our World” is a call to operate with clarity in an environment that doesn’t stand still. Digital threats are only becoming more adaptive, faster, and less predictable. The risk surface is expanding. So your approach to security has to move from static compliance to active readiness.
Awareness alone won’t solve this. You need readiness that can execute under pressure. That includes adaptive policies, fast feedback loops, real-time security visibility, and a willingness to overhaul legacy practices that slow down reaction time. Checklists, audits, and awareness training are useful, but they don’t create resilience by themselves. That comes from clear security principles embedded across every layer, from tools to teams.
What leaders should focus on now is capability: your team’s ability to adapt, respond, and contain threats without delay. This year’s cybersecurity focus makes it clear, we need to shift from a “what to know” mindset to a “what to do next” operating model. If your organization can’t identify, isolate, and mitigate a threat in real time, then the awareness has limited impact. Resilience comes from execution, not intention.
Many companies treat Cybersecurity Awareness Month as an internal campaign or a chance to push company-wide training. That’s fine. But the greater value lies in using this moment to challenge assumptions, audit your security posture with urgency, and ask whether your current tools, people, and protocols hold up under today’s pressure.
This isn’t a message reserved for your CISO. It’s a boardroom conversation. Security doesn’t stay in one part of the business, it moves across everything. So, your readiness needs to move with it. That means restructuring how you think about threat response, empowering leadership at every level to make decisions, and shifting from annual planning to continuous adaptation. You move faster when you’re prepared. And speed, in this context, is leverage.
Key takeaways for decision-makers
- Prioritize AI governance now: AI systems, especially autonomous ones, are introducing high-risk blind spots. Leaders should implement real-time visibility, usage policies, and access controls to reduce operational exposure and misuse.
- Shift from awareness to behavior security: Human error remains the top cybersecurity risk. Executives should integrate continuous behavior-based training and risk profiling to improve employee response and reduce exposure to social engineering.
- Prepare for quantum disruption now: Quantum computing threatens current encryption standards. Decision-makers must invest in post-quantum cryptography readiness, improve authentication protocols, and track change latency across critical infrastructure.
- Move beyond compliance to operational resilience: Traditional checklists won’t defend against modern threats. Leaders must build adaptive security models that integrate rapid threat response, cross-team accountability, and continuous evolution.
