As one of the leading developers of computer networking services and providers, Cisco Systems Inc. is quite literally helping power the connected world.

Being on the frontline of technological innovation, Cisco is witnessing firsthand the transformation of a globally connected society as remote work and artificial intelligence rapidly gain popularity and forever change the trajectory of our digital future. And the company is doing what it can to steer it onto a productive, secure path, according to Jeetu Patel (pictured), executive vice president and general manager of the Security and Collaboration business units at Cisco Systems Inc.

“There’s no unanimous consensus in the way that the future is going to be, except that it’s going to be hybrid,” he said. “You want to make sure that regardless of where you’re working from, people can have an inclusive experience.”

Patel spoke with theCUBE industry analyst Dave Vellante at MWC 2023, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the future of hybrid work, overcomplexity in security, how AI will change cybersecurity and more. (* Disclosure below.)

Solving tomorrow’s security problems today

A common misconception is that the more complex a security system is, the more secure it is — but the opposite is true, according to Patel. Overcomplexity in security exposes gaps and vulnerabilities and requires constant maintenance and configuration.

“What used to be the case was sophistication had to get to a certain level for efficacy to go up,” he stated. “But now, that sophistication has turned to complexity. There’s an inverse relationship between complexity and efficacy. In the end, the simpler you make security, the more effective it gets.”

Artificial intelligence services, such as ChatGPT, are taking the connected world by storm. As these AI programs gain popularity, malicious parties are starting to exploit them to target their victims.

“Today, it’s not … fundamentally something that we can’t handle just yet, but you still need to do the basic hygiene,” Patel said. “Over time, what you will see is attacks will get more bespoke and more sophisticated. You will need to have better mechanisms to know that this was not a human being writing that to you, but a machine pretending to be a human being writing something to you.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the MWC 2023 event:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for MWC 2023. Neither Dell Technologies Inc., the primary sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE