📈 Cybersecurity Underinvestment Poses Risk to National Economy, Warns SLT

Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT) has highlighted that corporate reluctance to fund digital security remains a critical vulnerability, particularly as the rise of autonomous AI elevates threats. • Key Operational Risks & AI Evolution • Corporate Hesitation: Organizations delay investing in resilience as cyber risks are difficult to quantify prior to an attack. • Agentic AI Threat: Rapid shift from generative AI to autonomous "agentic AI" (AI-to-AI interactions) creates complex, unmonitored attack vectors. • Board Priorities: Corporate leadership continues to favor traditional financial controls over proactive cybersecurity allocations. • Telecom Infrastructure & Structural Headwinds • Hardware & Supply Chains: Global semiconductor shortages—driven by large tech firms securing multi-year supplies—impair network expansion and equipment upgrades. • Critical Connectivity: Submarine cable disruptions present severe economy-wide risks; infrastructure redundancy remains vital for national stability. • Operational Pressures: Rising energy tariffs and the ongoing drain of skilled ICT/BPM talent further constrain sectoral capital expenditure. SLT urges corporate leaders and policymakers to treat cybersecurity and infrastructure resilience as strategic investments essential for national economic stability, rather than discretionary tech expenses.