• Targeted strikes—through drones or other technologies— to become more ubiquitous.
• Malicious actors are becoming more capable of launching misinformation campaigns on a national and global scale.
• Rapid digitalisation exponentially increases companies’ cyber exposures and creates more complex and potentially less secure networks. 

States and non-state actors alike will likely engage in more dangerous cyberattacks and these attacks will become more sophisticated, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF).

In its Global Risks Report 2021, WEF said that targeted strikes—through drones or other technologies—will become more ubiquitous and the pandemic has shown how governments can wield conspiracy theories as geopolitical weapons by making accusations about other states.

“Cyberattacks, targeted strikes and resource grabs are on the rise. The next decade is likely to see more frequent and impactful dissemination of disinformation on issues of geopolitical importance such as elections, humanitarian crises, public health, security and cultural issues,” the report said.

Malicious actors are becoming more capable of launching misinformation campaigns on a national and global scale—and because individuals and small groups are difficult to track and prosecute, it is harder for authorities to stop the spread of misinformation.

The number of countries experienced organised social media manipulation campaigns increased by 150 per cent between 2017 and 2019.

The report highlighted the failure of cybersecurity measures as a top “short-term risk” as rapid digitalisation has exponentially increased companies’ cyber exposures and created more complex and potentially less secure networks. 

And throughout 2020, cyberattacks on government agencies and companies globally increased and hackers leveraged the Covid-19 crisis to infiltrate networks.

Globally, the attack volume doubled from the second half of 2019 to the first half of 2020.

The report said that Covid-19 lockdowns have accelerated the digital-physical hybridisation enabled by the Fourth Industrial Revolution and businesses worldwide have faced the need to strengthen their digital presence to survive and adapt, even in heavily regulated industries. 

 “Cybersecurity failure ranks the fourth highest “clear and present danger” in the World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report. This should come as no surprise as our global reliance on all things technology went into overdrive in 2020,” Robert Huber, Chief Security Officer at Tenable, said.

Weaknesses in security practices

While the power of technology was on full display in 2020, so too were the potential pitfalls, he said and added that the issue with this kind of reliance is that, if “we continue to steam ahead without first ensuring the security of this technology, the threats to our digital economy and very way of life will take hold.”

 “Computational power was instrumental in the research and development of vaccines. Operational technology within critical infrastructure continues to underpin the cold supply chain and logistics, facilitating the safe delivery and storage of vaccine vials.”

 In 2020, he said the industry saw that threat actors weren’t afraid to take aim and exploit weaknesses in security practices for financial and even political gain. 

While regulation and globally accepted frameworks can be effective in raising the importance of cybersecurity efforts, alone neither is enough. Any cybersecurity initiative has to look beyond meeting minimum standard requirements to address the actual risks organisations face. It must elevate cybersecurity’s role as a strategic business function and critical enterprise risk,” Huber said.

The report said that policy-makers now have more incentives for increasing scrutiny, with growing concerns about antitrust issues, digital harms, misinformation, and foreign ownership implications for national security and data privacy.

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