Cybersecurity leaders and government officials converged on Dubai this week to confront a rapidly evolving threat landscape, as the second day of GISEC Global 2026 turned its focus to protecting critical infrastructure and harnessing artificial intelligence for security operations.
The session, held at Dubai Exhibition Centre under the banner "Cyber First: The New Digital Order," examined how deepening digital connectivity is reshaping risks to national and industrial systems. Experts explored strategies to bolster resilience across energy, industrial and critical infrastructure sectors as threats grow more sophisticated.
Hosted by the UAE Cyber Security Council with the Dubai Electronic Security Center as official government partner, the event has drawn delegates from 182 countries and continues through September 18 with backing from the Ministry of Interior and Dubai Police.
Discussions centred on vulnerabilities within industrial control systems and operational technology, including risks to human-machine interfaces and programmable logic controllers. Specialists urged a shift away from traditional perimeter defences toward risk-based models that prioritise threats by their potential impact on essential operations. Sessions also addressed dangers facing digital twins, where manipulated data and compromised models could distort critical representations of physical assets in sectors like oil and gas.
Artificial intelligence emerged as a central theme, with Cisco METAC's Fady Younes warning that AI and agentic systems are simultaneously driving innovation and expanding the scale of cyber risk, urging organisations to secure AI agents as rigorously as human users.
Under Armour's Alex Attumalil noted that the cybersecurity talent shortage cannot be solved through hiring alone, emphasising that AI should handle repetitive tasks while human oversight remains indispensable.
GISEC Global concludes tomorrow with sessions on emerging AI threats, quantum security and data privacy.
News Source: Emirates News Agency
