4-5 February 2026 – Shangri‑La The Fort, Manila, Philippines
The CyberSecPhil Conference 2026 opened today in Manila with cybersecurity professionals, industry leaders, and enterprise decision‑makers gathering to tackle the evolving threat landscape and the technological strategies shaping secure innovation. The summit began with opening remarks that highlighted the critical role of cybersecurity in enabling digital resilience and transformative growth. The first keynote session was delivered by Colonel Francel Margareth Padilla, Spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, who framed cybersecurity as a cornerstone for national innovation and digital sovereignty thus urging attendees to view resilient security strategies as essential not only for defense but for economic competitiveness.
Following the opening address, Atty. Renato “Aboy” A. Paraiso, Acting Executive Director at the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), delivered a powerful keynote on strengthening national cybercrime governance to enable secure digital innovation. Paraiso outlined the latest initiatives in regulatory frameworks and cross‑sector coordination to protect critical infrastructure against rising cyber threats.
The morning session continued with Chris Roeckl, Chief Product Officer at Appdome, who examined how AI‑powered techniques can protect the Philippines’ mobile economy from trojans, social engineering, and account takeover attacks. Roeckl’s presentation stressed the importance of adaptive security tools in defending against increasingly sophisticated threat vectors.
David Bochsler, Vice President for APJ at KnowBe4, followed with a compelling talk on reframing cybersecurity as a human challenge rather than a purely technical one, emphasising security awareness, behavioral risk, and culture as essential components of organisational resilience. His session connected phishing defence and simulated training with strategic risk mitigation in enterprise environments.
Mid‑day sessions featured Nhorgeelen R. Narra, Country Manager at Blancco Philippines, who shared an in‑depth look at data sanitization and mitigation strategies to manage data risk sustainably, and Cyril Villanueva, Security Consultant at Forcepoint Philippines, who discussed ensuring data security while scaling AI adoption — both giving practitioners tactical frameworks for securing data across cloud and hybrid infrastructures.
Panel discussions this afternoon brought together veteran CISOs and security leaders, moderated by Maez De Gumzan from EY, exploring enterprise AI security governance, policy, and oversight with voices like Elson Manahan from St. Luke’s Medical Center and Jed Chua from Asia United Bank. Later panels covered strategic cloud security transformation, with contributions from RCBC, JG Summit Holdings, and AboitizPower, reinforcing practical approaches to modernization without compromising risk posture.
Day 2 opened with Paraiso’s follow‑up keynote and technical talks including Govindraj Basatwar of Doverunner on securing mobile applications in the AI era, Claire Huang of Synology on data resilience strategies, and Kunal Jha from Netskope on adaptive cybersecurity operations. Breakouts and fireside chats addressed human firewall strategies for talent and culture, and OT/IoT infrastructure security, spotlighting collaborative risk management and defense in depth.
CyberSecPhil Conference 2026 covered verified insights on national governance, enterprise cybersecurity strategy, AI risk management, data protection, and human‑centric defense, reinforcing practical frameworks and tools for practitioners navigating complex threat environments.
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