Technology plays a profound role in shaping the global risks landscape in the near and longer term. Concerns about data fraud and cyberattacks were prominent again in the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Perception Survey, with 82 percent of respondents expecting cyberattacks in the form of theft of data or money and 80 percent expecting it in the form of disruptions of operations or infrastructure to increase in 2019. Similarly, “data fraud or theft” and “cyberattacks” ranked as the fourth and fifth risks, respectively, in terms of likelihood over the next decade.
Indeed, there were further data breaches in 2018, new hardware weaknesses were revealed, and research pointed to the potential uses of artificial intelligence to engineer more potent cyberattacks. Last year also provided further evidence that cyberattacks pose risks to critical infrastructure, prompting countries to strengthen their screening of cross border partnerships on national security grounds. According to Cisco, 94 percent of companies in MENA said they experienced a cyberattack in the past year and almost half of attacks, 48 percent, resulted in damage valued at over USD 500,000 (1). The rise in the flow of data across borders means that these types of risks are only expected to increase.
The World Economic Forum in partnership with Marsh & McLennan Companies and Zurich Insurance Group released its Middle East and North Africa Risks Landscape Report, which uses data from the Global Risks Report 2019 and the Regional Risks for Doing Business 2018.
(1) Cisco, “Cybersecurity. Get the Full Picture,” https://www.cisco.com/c/m/en_qa/campaigns/security/cyber-threats-and-protection-2018-report/index.html