Global cyber security platform provider Potech will feature at the ITWeb Security Summit 2026 in Johannesburg and plans to use the podium to highlight the evolution from the dark web to the DarkCloud and DarkSphere – the reality now facing organisations.
Tony Feghali, CEO of Potech, says the company will discuss the ramifications of this evolution into the DarkSphere, a term that refers to all cyber attacks, acts of misinformation, fraud, scams and instances of cyber bullying committed by autonomous AI agents. These agents impact the so-called noosphere – everything that is built, connected and dependent on digital systems.
ITWeb Security Summit 2026
Cyber security leaders looking to stay ahead of evolving threats can join peers and industry experts at ITWeb Security Summit 2026 in Johannesburg and ITWeb Security Summit 2026 in Cape Town. The events will explore how organisations can strengthen resilience against AI-driven attacks, supply chain risks and emerging cyber threats.
“The noosphere represents everything humans have collectively built and connected digitally. The DarkCloud is the infrastructure. The DarkSphere is the data pollution,” adds Feghali.
He explains that the noosphere is being systematically exploited by a criminal economy that most organisations still do not fully understand.
“Most security teams are still defending against the old threat model: skilled individual hackers, isolated incidents, static perimeters. But the DarkCloud doesn't care about your perimeter. Today, anyone with motive and money can launch a sophisticated attack, because the infrastructure to do so is available as a service, as an off-the-shelf agent on demand. If your security posture is built on old assumptions, you're not defending against real threats. You're defending against ghosts,” says Feghali.
“The fact is that cyber crime has professionalised,” Feghali continues. “It's no longer the lone hacker. It's a borderless ecosystem with supply chains and AI-powered capabilities operating at scale. Understanding the DarkCloud is the first step to defend against it, which is where platforms like Darkivore, Potech’s cyber threat intelligence and digital risk protection platform, come in.”
AI-driven threat landscape
According to Potech, AI-driven attacks are lowering the entry barrier for cyber criminals while raising the sophistication ceiling. Attacks that used to require deep expertise are now automated, scalable and cheap.
“Supply chain fragility means your weakest link isn't always inside your walls,” says Feghali. “It's a third-party or even a sixth-party vendor, an API integration, a partner with lax controls. And the skills gap means most organisations simply don't have the human capital to keep pace, despite the enhancements in AI-driven defence.”
Potech’s response to this challenge is an integrated AI-powered platform ecosystem spanning adversarial exposure validation, automated pentesting, next-generation SIEM and incident management
“You can't hire your way out of this problem. You need intelligent, automated systems that scale with the threat, and human expertise focused where it matters most,” adds Feghali.
In addition to AI, Potech highlights several other forces that continue to shape the market, including accelerated regulation, agentic adoption that is expanding the attack surface, and an urgent demand for visibility and orchestration tools amid increased digital transformation in Africa.
“We're seeing more sophisticated attacks, carried out by well-organised criminal groups, move towards mid-sized organisations that have valuable data but limited defences. Fortunately, awareness is rising. CISOs and business leaders across the continent are more informed than ever. They're asking harder questions and demanding more from their security partners. That's a good thing,” says Feghali.
Potech wants delegates to remember a few key points from its presentation: the DarkCloud is real and operates like a business; you cannot defend what you cannot see; and platforms, not point solutions, are the future.
Organisations that will be resilient are those that invest in integrated, AI-powered platforms that work together, adds Feghali.
Share
