Cyber resilience requires synergy of human intelligence, technology

ORGANIZATIONS must focus on building a cyber resilient culture that combines human judgement with the use of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) to combat a surge in cyberattacks.

Speaking at the Cyber Revolution Summit 2026 on Tuesday, Royal Cargo Vice-President for Information and Communications Technology Ernesto J. Rufino, Jr. said the digital landscape is becoming more vulnerable to attacks, making the traditional “perimeter-based” defense insufficient.

“The attack surface has never been wider,” Mr. Rufino said, adding that cloud migration, remote work, and the expansion of the Internet of Things has resulted in more exposure points.

Attackers are already using advanced tools like AI-generated machines, deepfakes, social engineering, and autonomous malware to exploit vulnerabilities.

Mr. Rufino said the human element remains critical to cybersecurity as around 80% of data breaches are caused by human error and with 74% of all breaches involving a human element like social engineering or insider threats.

“The human element is not the problem. It’s the solution when empowered.”

He said cyber resilience as the ability to anticipate and recover from attacks while maintaining continuous operations, which can be achieved through a framework where technology acts as a “shield,” using AI and machine learning to detect anomalies in real time with humans making the final decisions.

“Technology amplifies humans’ capability, but only when guided by human strategy,” he said.

Despite machines being able to execute tasks precisely, humans need to analyze the context and translate risks across organizations and businesses, he added.

Companies can follow a 90-day roadmap that focuses on assessing vulnerability, AI-assisted detection tools for deployment, and the facilitation of regular incident response drills, Mr. Rufino said.

Continuous upskilling for all staff within organizations is also needed to build effective defenses.

“Resilience is not a product you buy. It’s a culture you build inside your company organization.” — Juliana Chloe A. Gonzales