Leaders urge a cyber safe culture as AI & threats evolve

Cyber Security Awareness Month has become a focal point for industry leaders to highlight shifting cyber risks and the importance of collective responsibility in safeguarding digital environments.

Changing threat landscape

David Rajkovic, Regional Vice President A/NZ at Rubrik, pointed to the rise in identity-based attacks as a major evolution in cyber threats. Research from Rubrik Zero Labs indicates that nearly 80% of cyberattacks in the past year exploited compromised user credentials to access critical systems. Rajkovic argued for adopting zero-trust principles, such as least privilege and just-in-time access, supported by real-time AI-powered anomaly detection.

"Modern data security platforms now continuously map the relationship between every identity - human and machine - and the sensitive data they can access. Platforms allow organisations to proactively identify high-risk permissions and understand the potential 'blast radius' of a compromised account before an attack even happens," he said.

Similar observations were made by Nigel Tan, APAC SE Director at Delinea, who highlighted the growing significance of machine identities. "From chatbots to APIs and autonomous agents, they already outnumber humans 46 to 1 - yet they're too often overlooked. Securing these identities is now just as critical as protecting human ones," Tan commented. He pointed to recent incidents, such as the Salesloft breach, where attackers exploited privileged access to chatbots. He urged organisations to prioritise visibility, restrict privileges, and shorten credential lifespans for machine identities.

From IT to enterprise-wide concern

Shain Singh, Principal Security Architect at F5, discussed the expanding remit of security in the age of digital transformation. Application security, once limited to IT, is now seen as an organisation-wide responsibility. Singh reinforced the need for a 'cyber safe culture', saying, "Every line of code, every integration, and every business process carries potential risk… developers, executives, and employees all have a role to play in safeguarding digital trust." He advocated for collaboration and embedding security throughout all business layers.

Roz Gregory, Regional Vice President A/NZ at Datadog, echoed the call for a cultural shift, warning against blame-shifting between developers and operators when incidents occur. Gregory pointed to regulatory frameworks such as the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act, which demand ongoing operational resilience across people, processes, and technology. "Integrating security and observability across all roles demonstrates strength and adaptability, satisfies regulatory expectations, and builds confidence in digital systems," Gregory said.

Regulatory pressure and the SMB challenge

For small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), compliance pressures are mounting as regulators, insurers, and customers demand evidence of mature security postures. Kevin Gritsch, Vice President of Partner Services, APAC at Pax8, noted that SMBs face the same regulatory expectations as large enterprises, without comparable resources. "What was once a technical headache is now a compliance fault line, one that can cripple a business even if it survives the attack itself," Gritsch said. He stressed the importance of frameworks such as the Essential Eight or CIS v8 and saw the increasing reliance on managed service providers as necessary for bridging capability gaps.

DNS: The digital gatekeeper

Scott Morris, Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand at Infoblox, argued that Domain Name System (DNS) security must move from a post-incident tool to a front-line defence. "Threat actors obfuscate their tactics by constructing intricate architectures with thousands of domains, making coordinated communications appear random and unconnected. Monitoring and analysing DNS threat intelligence data… can unveil details about threat actor campaigns like fast flux," he said. With governments increasing the prominence of DNS in regulatory requirements, Morris advocated for daily actions like using strong passwords and multi-factor authentication, as well as more advanced measures such as DNS protection.

AI's double-edged sword

AI has emerged as a tool for both attackers and defenders, according to Rob Dooley, Vice President, Asia Pacific and Japan at Rapid7. Attackers use generative AI for phishing, deepfakes and creating plausible synthetic identities, while ransomware attacks exploit weak multi-factor authentication, remote access, and credentials. Dooley called for everyone, not just technical teams, to foster 'cyber hygiene'. Actions such as verifying unexpected requests and using MFA can disrupt attacker tactics. "Cybersecurity demands a mindset of foresight, collaboration, and continuous vigilance," he said.

Vinayak Sreedhar, Country Head A/NZ at ManageEngine, also focused on AI, noting that its rapid adoption has shifted the conversation from basic awareness to issues of responsible use. "AI innovation cannot outpace security. Responsible governance, clear policies, and proactive defences must anchor adoption so that businesses can embrace AI confidently, without exposing themselves to new classes of cyber threats," Sreedhar said.

Culture and collaboration

The collective message from these industry voices stresses a cultural shift: from treating cybersecurity as a technical or IT matter to embedding it across all parts of the organisation. Fostering a 'cyber safe culture' means daily vigilance, shared accountability, compliance awareness, and adjusting strategies in response to both evolving technology and threat tactics.

"Every individual, from board executives to frontline staff and family members, has a role in maintaining cyber hygiene. Taking a moment's pause before clicking, using multi-factor authentication, verifying unusual requests, and promptly reporting anomalies can disrupt attacker playbooks," said Dooley.