Atlanta and Washington – September 17, 2026 -- Global cybersecurity exposure tied to artificial intelligence could reach as much as $3 trillion, according to Michael Gargiulo, CEO of VPN.com, a company specializing in cybersecurity and domain name brand protection.
Palo Alto Networks flagged $1 trillion in cybersecurity debt
On a recent earnings call, Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora said approximately $1 trillion in global cybersecurity infrastructure must be modernized to counter automated threats that operate instantaneously.
Gargiulo says the real figure could be triple that estimate
Gargiulo argues Arora's estimate excludes depreciating hardware, planned upgrade cycles, cloud expansion, AI agents, and global domain protection, factors he says push total exposure toward $3 trillion. "AI has changed the economics of cybersecurity," Gargiulo said, noting companies now defend devices, endpoints, agents, browsers, domains, and IP space rather than just networks.
ICANN's new top-level domains raise brand protection stakes
VPN.com points to ICANN's preparation for new generic top-level domain activations, which will expand multilingual internet addresses, as a factor set to broaden brand protection needs. Gargiulo said domain names now function as brand access points, customer trust layers, and parts of a company's security perimeter.
VPN.com urges review beyond firewalls and cloud accounts
The company recommends that businesses examine exposed devices, browser access, employee endpoints, vendor portals, APIs, domain portfolios, country-code top-level domains, lookalike domains, internationalized domains, and premium cyber location domains that could create market confusion or erode trust.
AI-powered impersonation can exploit weak points quickly
VPN.com warns that AI-driven phishing, fake support pages, and automated brand abuse can spread rapidly once attackers find a vulnerability, and that fragmented domain strategies increase the risk of confusing customers, employees, vendors, and partners. "Premium domains, defensive registrations, clean Internet Protocol space, core containment, and trusted digital access points should be evaluated before attackers or competitors exploit the gaps," Gargiulo said.