Cyber risk has become a front-and-center issue in today’s global economy. The media is rife with reports of cyberattacks ranging from major customer records thefts and health care records breaches, to political incidents. This increase in frequency and magnitude of cyberattacks, data breaches and ransomware requests has prompted public sector and private sector responses around the world
The United States formed a cross-government task force to oversee a range of initiatives, including defensive and offensive measures against ransomware attackers, tracking ransom payments on cryptocurrency platforms and coordinating activities with U.S. allies. Rewards of up to $10 million are also being offered for information that helps halt or punish hackers that lock up computers at vital U.S. industries and hold them for ransom
The 2021 World Economic Forum Global Risks Reportranks ‘cybersecurity failure’ as ninth among the top ten likely risks. This characterisation is a combination of data fraud or theft, and cybersecurity attacks in previous rankings