As super intelligent AI systems capable of advanced reasoning, coding, and autonomous action, collectively referred to as Mythos-class AI, emerge, cybersecurity leaders are forced to re-evaluate traditional defense strategies, according to Sunil Varkey, Executive Vice President and CISO at Hexaware Technologies.
The rapid acceleration of vulnerability discovery and zero-day exploitation shortened the time window between bug identification and enterprise compromise. To maintain resilience, organizations must shift from isolated patch counts toward holistic exposure management, prioritizing asset reachability, identity governance, and sequence-based threat detection.
“In security, everything works on a fundamental principle called time-based security,” Varkey said. “If an exploit comes faster than the time needed to fix it, the traditional model fails. We must focus on the path to reach vulnerable systems rather than relying solely on patching.”
In this video interview with CISONow, Varkey also discussed:
- Defining Mythos-class AI and its impact on the volume and velocity of zero-day vulnerabilities;
- Moving from traditional vulnerability management to exposure resilience using reachability and asset context;
- Establishing identity governance as the core security perimeter in AI-driven environments.
Sunil Varkey serves as the Executive Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at Hexaware Technologies. With over 25 years of cybersecurity experience across global enterprises, he leads information security strategy, regulatory compliance, risk governance, and digital trust programs worldwide.
