The Dark Side of Innovation: Hackers, Data Theft, and Existential Threat

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A report from the World Economic Forum has once again named cyberattacks as one of the top threats the world will face in 2020, along with climate change, extreme weather and natural disasters, ZDNet reports .

New technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing have the potential to change people's lives for the better, but they can also have the unintended consequence of making society more vulnerable to cyberattacks.

The WEF's 15th- year Global Risks Report 2020, prepared jointly with Marsh, a company specializing in insurance intermediation and risk management, outlines the biggest threats the world will face in 2020 and beyond.

Data theft and cyberattacks were ranked among the top greece whatsapp data most likely global risks in 2018 and 2019. While they still pose a significant threat, they are now ranked 6th and 7th , respectively .

“I wouldn’t underestimate the importance of technology risk, even though climate is at the center of this year’s report,” said John Dzik, chairman of Marsh & McLennan Insights.

Technological risks are placed after five environmental risks: extreme weather conditions, failure to prevent climate change, natural disasters, loss of biodiversity, and man-made environmental disasters.

But that doesn’t mean cybersecurity threats aren’t a risk. Cyberattacks and data thefts still rank among the top 10 threats and can cause major problems for individuals, companies, and society as a whole. The spectrum of threats ranges from data theft and ransomware infections to hackers interfering with industry and mixed cyber-physical systems.