Cybersecurity in México and the Future: A Remark by Alejandro Rodriguez

In recent years, cyberattacks have surged worldwide, overwhelming governments, private companies, and critical infrastructure worldwide. Cybersecurity is no longer an IT problem; a single incident can halt operations across hospitals, banks, transportation systems, or even entire cities.

Traditionally, disruptions often stem from something as small as an IT human error: a misconfigured system or a weak password. Today, incidents have evolved, happening for an employee falling for a well-crafted phishing email, a zero-day bug discovered by a malicious threat actor, or an injected prompt to an AI agent that has access to nearly every resource in the organization. These attacks may be launched by an individual with advanced social-engineering skills or by a nation-state group with near-military-level capabilities (Google Cybersecurity Forecast 2025 report). The playing field is asymmetrical; defenders must protect everything, while attackers only need to find one opening.

Mexico is currently the second most-targeted country for cyberattacks in Latin America (CrowdStrike 2025 Latin America Threat Landscape Report). Financial institutions, military agencies, and even small and medium-sized businesses have suffered breaches in recent years. Although awareness and regulation have grown, there remains a significant cultural and educational gap. Cybersecurity is still often dismissed as a purely technical specialty.

The path forward is clear: cybersecurity must be democratized. Not because it is idealistic, but because it is necessary. This can be achieved by making it understandable, practical, and accessible to everyone. The outdated belief that it is a discipline reserved only for "technical people" must end.

We now live in an environment of voice-activated homes and smart vehicles, where a simple voice command can unlock a door or open a gate. Our financial lives run on cloud platforms and mobile banking, where a brief disruption can cascade into economic paralysis. Artificial intelligence and autonomous agents are rapidly becoming part of daily life. And yet, they too can be manipulated, deceived, or hijacked in ways most users never anticipate.

Today, nearly every person interacts with digital systems dozens of times a day, often without realizing it. That invisibility is precisely the problem. These systems can be exploited in seconds, which means every individual is both a potential target.

Mexico’s long-term resilience depends on inclusive cybersecurity education starting from schools, responsible technology adoption across industries, and a cultural shift that treats digital security not as an option, but as a shared duty.