Cyber security solutions provider Cyberrey has confirmed its sponsorship of the annual ITWeb Security Summit JHB 2026 event and will present on the topic: "Defending the unknown: Cyber risk beyond your perimeter". The company will explain how to manage cyber risk that is no longer confined to known assets, identities or attack paths.
ITWeb Security Summit
Security Summit 2026 will run under the theme: “Redefining security in the face of AI-driven attacks, fragile supply chains and a global skills gap”.
The Cape Town leg will be held at the Century City Conference Centre from 25-26 May, followed by the Johannesburg event at the Sandton Convention Centre from 2-4 June.
Click here for more info and to register.
Arashad Samuels, VP of sales for MEA at Cyberrey, will focus on how attackers operate during various stages before intrusion, including digital exposure, reconnaissance, identity abuse, domain name system (DNS) manipulation and breach infrastructure preparation – all of which are largely invisible to traditional security controls.
The keynote will connect several industry shifts:
- AI-powered attacks and defences, where adversaries use automation and AI to scale reconnaissance, while defenders must move towards AI-assisted early detection.
- DNS as a critical but underutilised security control plane, offering early visibility into malware, command-and-control, data exfiltration and AI-enabled attack tooling.
- Breach intelligence and continuous threat exposure management (CTEM) as mechanisms to detect attacker intent before impact.
- Quantum security readiness, recognising that cryptographic trust models must evolve long before quantum decryption becomes operational.
Samuels believes this topic is relevant because resilience in 2026 is no longer defined by response speed alone, but by how early companies can see, understand and reduce unknown risk.
Compounding risks
He explains that issues like AI-driven attacks, fragile supply chains and the global skills gap are compounding risks and demand a shift towards early risk signals, continuous visibility and intelligent automation.
“Cyber resilience today depends on reducing uncertainty – knowing what you expose, where you are vulnerable and how attackers see you – before a breach occurs,” adds Samuels. “For African enterprises operating across constrained connectivity, hybrid infrastructure and expanding digital footprints, early visibility is not optional, it is foundational.”
While AI will continue to dominate the narrative, several deeper forces will shape cyber security adoption and architecture into 2026:
- DNS-centric security and network intelligence
DNS will increasingly be recognised as a strategic intelligence layer, enabling earlier detection of AI-driven malware, phishing infrastructure, data exfiltration and nation-state tooling than endpoint or perimeter controls.
- Breach intelligence and CTEM maturity
Organisations are shifting from static risk assessments to continuous threat exposure management, using live breach intelligence to prioritise remediation based on real attacker behaviour rather than theoretical risk.
- Identity security posture management (ISPM)
As identity sprawl expands across cloud, SaaS, OT, APIs and AI agents, investment will increase in identity visibility, least privilege enforcement and identity-driven threat detection.
- Quantum security readiness
Regulators and enterprises will require post-quantum cryptography planning, cryptographic inventories and transition roadmaps, particularly in financial services, government and critical infrastructure.
- Regulatory and board-level accountability
Cyber security will continue moving from an IT function to a board-level risk discipline, driven by compliance mandates, breach disclosure requirements and personal liability.
- Economic pressure and outcome-driven security
Constrained budgets will accelerate demand for platforms that demonstrably reduce exposure and business risk.
Actionable insights
Samuels will provide delegates with five clear, actionable insights:
- Cyber risk emerges upstream
Attacks begin with exposure, identity misuse, DNS abuse and breach infrastructure set-up, not with malware execution.
- DNS is no longer just networking
DNS telemetry is one of the richest sources of early threat intelligence and should be treated as a core security signal, not an afterthought.
- AI changes both sides of the battlefield
Defenders must match attacker speed with AI-assisted visibility, prioritisation and automation, not manual analysis alone.
- Identity is the new attack surface
With humans, machines, APIs, SaaS apps and AI agents all acting as identities, ISPM becomes foundational to zero trust and CTEM strategies.
- Prepare for quantum disruption now
Quantum security is not a future problem; cryptographic agility, inventory and migration planning must begin today to avoid systemic trust failures later.
Samuels adds: “Overall, the market is evolving from security tooling towards risk intelligence, resilience engineering and trust preservation. Digital exposure, reconnaissance, identity abuse and DNS manipulation – these are the invisible moves attackers make before traditional security even notices.”
Click here for more information and to register.
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