Cyberattacks and their potential to cripple critical infrastructure remain one of the biggest risks facing the world today, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has warned.
Both large-scale cyberattacks and mass incidents of data theft feature in the top five most likely risks in the WEF’s Global Risks Report 2019. The WEF is an international group that aims to bring business leaders, politicians, and academics together to help shape the global agenda. This is the 14th annual edition of the report, which has been produced with insurance broking and risk management firm Marsh.
Cyberattacks and data breaches featured heavily in last year’s report, ranking as third and fourth most likely global risks, only finishing behind extreme weather events and natural disasters. This year, massive data breaches and large-scale cyberattacks are ranked as the fourth and fifth most likely global risks, with failure of climate-change mitigation and adaptation ranked second behind extreme weather. Natural disasters again ranked above cyberattacks and data breaches.
But that doesn’t mean the risk of…
