TECH & AI
A s today’ s digital nomads click their way through life – shopping, gaming, dining – little do they consider the intricate work that goes into making these ecosystems airtight. Among the unsung heroes protecting modern digital infrastructure is Akamai. Operating one of the world’ s largest distributed server platforms, with specialisms in cloud computing and cybersecurity, Akamai has been protecting online communities for more than 25 years.
Over the past few months, however, all industry conversations – no matter where they start – seem to meet at the same point: AI. And, Richard Meeus, Senior Director of Security Technology and Strategy EMEA at Akamai, is eager to cut through the hype. Acknowledging that the technology is truly at an“ inflection point”, Richard says AI is“ still primarily accelerating existing risks more than creating entirely new ones”.
While the barrier to entry for cybercriminals has been lowered, with bad actors automating more time-consuming work like phishing campaigns and reconnaissance, Richard says now is“ not the time to throw out the old rulebook in favour of something completely new”.
He continues:“ The defensive playbook needs to evolve, not be replaced. Strong cyber hygiene, rigorous identity controls, timely patching and Zero Trust remain the foundations of effective security.“ AI reinforces the importance of these fundamentals, because when attackers can identify and exploit weaknesses faster, organisations need confidence that their core security controls are working as intended.”
Believe you are breached Where Akamai shines is in its ability to sieve out the elements of AI that actually impact modern-day work.
In Richard’ s eyes, the most pressing risk is frontier AI. Although AI has been accelerating time-to-exploit for quite some time, frontier models are further compressing the gap between the discovery of flaws to them being exploited in the wild. Attackers are weaponising vulnerabilities much faster than many security teams can respond.
“ That makes it more important than ever for organisations to employ sufficient defence in depth,” says Richard. Even so, what he regards as non-negotiable is the“ assumed breach mindset” – the strategy where you assume that the attacker is already in. He adds:“ Organisations must ensure that, when a breach inevitably happens, their defences are robust enough to not fall at the first hurdle.”
Considering the enormous volume of vulnerabilities that frontier systems can exploit, this is a truly strategic approach, shifting the goal from absolute prevention to operational resilience – enabling business operations even if bad actors manage to slip the net.
Richard expands:“ An overlapping, holistic approach is therefore vital as attack surfaces continue to expand.”
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