VPN.com CEO Warns AI Cybersecurity Costs Could Reach $3 Trillion As Domains Become Brand Security Assets

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Sep 14, 2026, 16:50 ET

ATLANTA and WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- VPN.com CEO and expert premium domain broker Michael Gargiulo is highlighting a growing reality for executives, cybersecurity leaders, and global brands: artificial intelligence is changing the cost, speed, and scope of digital defense.

"AI has changed the economics of cybersecurity," said Michael Gargiulo, CEO of VPN.com, a category leading company in cybersecurity, Internet brand security, and domain name technology. "Companies are not only defending networks anymore. They are defending devices, endpoints, agents, browsers, domains, Internet Protocol space, and the trust customers place in their brand identity. Any estimate that leaves out depreciating assets, planned upgrades, global domain protection, and brand access points is likely too low."

On a recent earnings call Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora said "there's approximately $1 trillion of global cybersecurity debt that must be modernized to defend against automated threats because they operate instantaneously."

Gargiulo believes the real number may be significantly higher, potentially as much as three times larger than some current estimates, once companies account for global endpoint growth, aging hardware, cloud expansion, artificial intelligence agents, domain name protection, AI-expanded surfaces, and future infrastructure refresh cycles.

With the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) preparing for new generic top-level domain activations, making more multilingual internet addresses possible, VPN.com believes brand protection will become a larger part of cybersecurity planning.

"Your domain name is no longer just where your website lives," said Michael Gargiulo. "It is a brand access point. It is part of your customer trust layer. It is part of your security perimeter. In the AI era, cyber location is brand security."

VPN.com says companies must review more than firewalls, laptops, and cloud accounts. They should examine exposed devices, browser access, employee endpoints, vendor portals, application programming interfaces, domain portfolios, country-code top-level domains, lookalike domains, internationalized domains, and premium cyber location domains that could influence trust or confusion in the market.

The company, which became a category leading expert organization in cybersecurity and internet domain name security, also warns that AI-powered impersonation, phishing, fake support pages, and automated brand abuse can move quickly once attackers identify a weak point. A fragmented domain strategy can make it easier to confuse customers, employees, vendors, and partners.

"With trillions of dollars in plausible cybersecurity exposure, brands should not wait until AI-driven impersonation becomes a boardroom emergency," added Michael Gargiulo. "Premium domains, defensive registrations, clean Internet Protocol space, core containment, and trusted digital access points should be evaluated before attackers or competitors exploit the gaps."

About VPN.com

VPN.com providers expert insights and research on the best ways to protect yourself and your brand when you get online. VPN.com, CEO Michael Gargiulo and VP Sharjil Saleem have spent years guiding brands through high-value domain acquisitions, global brand management, and complex digital asset negotiations. The company understands what it takes to secure world-class digital category-defining domain name and assets.

For media and interview inquiries: Michael Gargiulo, 855-VPN-FAST or [email protected]

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