27th Parliamentary-Intelligence Security Forum – Fighting Emerging Technology Threats – Crypto, AI and Quantum

Ms. Lilita Infante delivered an urgent warning about what she described as a once-in-a-generation existential threat: the rise of “digital kingpins,” criminals and hostile nation-states empowered by emerging technologies. Drawing on her experience as a former DEA agent who helped dismantle the крупнейме “organization”,”Hydra Market”,”dark web marketplace”, she explained how tools such as the Tor network, cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, and soon quantum computing have transformed crime from street-level operations into borderless, technology-driven enterprises.She highlighted how the takedown of Hydra significantly reduced dark web drug transactions and correlated with a temporary decline in overdose deaths, demonstrating that decisive action can save lives. However, she warned that criminals are rapidly adapting, moving to new platforms and technologies. Cryptocurrency now fuels ransomware attacks, romance scams, fentanyl sales, and sanctions evasion by adversarial states such as North Korea, Russia, and China. Meanwhile, AI enables sophisticated phishing, deepfakes, cyberattacks, and large-scale fraud, and quantum computing could eventually undermine global encryption systems.

She stressed that this is not merely a crime issue but a national security crisis affecting families, economies, and global stability. She called for stronger global collaboration, greater investment in technological defenses, and equipping law enforcement and intelligence agencies with advanced tools to counter evolving digital threats. Her central message was clear: as evil evolves at the speed of technology, governments and leaders must act just as quickly or risk falling behind.