Latin America Faces Rising Cybersecurity Threats as AI Emerges as Key Solution

According to a World Bank report, Latin America and the Caribbean have become the world's fastest-growing region for disclosed cyber incidents, with a 25% average annual growth rate over the last decade. The report also identifies the region as the least protected globally.

Recent Cyberattacks Highlight Vulnerabilities

• In December 2023, the US Embassy in San José and Costa Rica's Presidency revealed that Chinese-based cybercriminal groups had infiltrated the country's technology systems.
• Shortly before this, Costa Rica's Oil Refinery (RECOPE) suffered a ransomware attack. RECOPE is critical to the region, operating oil pipelines from the Caribbean to the Pacific.
• Other notable incidents include:
  • Massive data breaches exposing confidential records of nearly every citizen (Ecuador, 2019; Argentina, 2022).
  • A malware attack shutting down all public bank branches (Chile, 2020).
  • A cyber incident disrupting voting for citizens abroad during Ecuador's 2023 presidential election.

AI Emerges as a Potential Solution

With the rise of AI-generated code, cybersecurity challenges are escalating, but startups are leveraging AI to combat threats. DeepSource, a San Francisco-based startup and Y-Combinator Winter 2020 alum, recently launched AI agents designed to identify and fix security vulnerabilities in code.

"Code is no longer being written just by humans. The surge of AI-generated code means 10x more code can now be developed in the same amount of time, and by less experienced developers. But we’re not speeding up our code security practices by that same factor," said Sanket Saurav, CEO of DeepSource.

Investment Opportunities in Latin America

The global cybersecurity workforce gap exceeds 4 million, and the industry is projected to grow by 14% in Latin America. This presents significant opportunities for:

• Startups developing AI-driven security tools.