Cyberthreat gloom

The World Economic Forum has issued a bleak assessment of humankind’s ability to contain growing cybersecurity threats.

The forum, which in pre-pandemic times gathered in glitzy Davos, Switzerland this time of year, polled 1,000 experts and leaders on risks we collectively face. Cybersecurity failures ranked seventh on the list of risks that have worsened since the COVID-19 crisis began — and are outpacing societies’ ability to respond. The grim prognosis is that just about everything favors the malicious hacker. Barriers to entry are falling. Attack methods are becoming more aggressive. And there’s a global shortfall of about 3 million cybersecurity professionals.

Experts anticipate more attacks on large, strategic systems — like last year’s ransomware attack on the Colonial petroleum pipeline — as public trust in digital systems diminishes due to disinformation, fraud and eroding online safety.

In a separate cybersecurity survey of 120 experts in 20 countries, the WEF found ransomware to be most worrisome. Just over 80% considered staying ahead of ransomware attackers a constant battle of unsustainable costs. That was considerably worse than 69% a year earlier.