Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2022: WEF

• Vaid's ICS, Lucknow
• 21, Jan 2022

Why in News?

• The World Economic Forum’s ‘Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2022’ has stated that cyberattacks have surged amid accelerating Covid-driven digitalization.

Key Highlights of the Report

Rising cyber-attacks: 

• • The accelerating pace of digitalization, fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to a record-breaking year for cybercrime with ransomware attacks rising 151 per cent in 2021, and an average of 270 cyber attacks per organisation being faced

Cost of breaching:

• • Each successful cyber breach cost a company USD 3.6 million (nearly Rs 27 crore) last year, while the average share price of the hacked company underperformed NASDAQ by nearly 3 percent even six months after the event in case of the breach becoming public.

Dangerous ransomware: 

• • The WEF said the global digital economy surged on the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, but so has cybercrime and nearly 80 percent of cyber leaders now consider ransomware a ‘danger’ and ‘threat’ to public safety.

Cyber resilience:

• • Some 92 per cent of business executives surveyed agree that cyber resilience is integrated into enterprise risk-management strategies, but only 55 percent of cyber leaders surveyed agreed.
  • This gap between leaders can leave firms vulnerable to attacks as a direct result of incongruous security priorities and policies
  • Less than one-fifth of cyber leaders feel confident that their organisations are cyber resilient.

Weakest Link:

• • Nearly nine in ten see SMEs as the weakest link in the supply chain.

Challenges:

Response time: 

• • Companies need 280 days on average to identify and respond to a cyberattack.

Lack of skill set: 

• • Nearly two-thirds would find it challenging to respond to a cybersecurity incident due to the shortage of skills within their team.

Retaining skilled force:

• • The dearth of staff security positions is a major threat to business continuity and even to national defence.
  • The survey found that 50% of all respondents would find it challenging to respond and recover from a cyberattack due to the shortage of skills within their team, and less than 25% of companies with 5,000 to 50,000 employees, have the people and skills they need today.

Poor Prioritisation: 

• • The survey indicates that whereas about 85% of cyber leaders agree that cyber resilience is a business priority for their organization, one of their most prominent challenges is to gain decision-makers’ support when prioritising cyber risks, against a plurality of other risks.
  • These discordant results indicate that highlighting cyber resilience as a business priority alone is necessary but insufficient.

Way Ahead

• In a world that is so deeply interconnected by digital technology, cybersecurity and global security are the same thing.
• No single organisation, public or private, can have a complete view of the entire cyber landscape.
• Senior leadership must insist organisations share information to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
• Organisations need to work more closely with ecosystem partners and other third parties to make cybersecurity part of their ecosystem DNA, so they can be resilient and promote customer trust.

About Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2022:

• Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2022 is released by World Economic Forum (WEF).
• It is the first Global Cybersecurity Outlook flagship report.
• The report identifies the trends and analyzes the near-term future cybersecurity challenges.
• The accelerated shift to remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic coupled with recent high-profile cyberattacks have resulted in bringing cybersecurity top of mind among key decision-makers in organizations and nations.

Facts for Prelims :

Climate Hazards and Vulnerability Atlas of India:

Recently, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) launched India’s 1st Climate Hazards and Vulnerability Atlas.

About The Climate Hazards and Vulnerability Atlas of India.

• It is developed by the scientists at the Climate Research and Services (CRS) office of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune.
• It is based on 14 extreme weather events and the risks they pose to the local population, livelihoods and economy of each district.
  • The atlas features extreme rainfall, drought, coldwave, heatwave, dust storms, hail storms, thunderstorms, cyclones, snowfall, lightning, winds and fog.
• The hazards and vulnerability values have been calculated utilising the Met department’s historical climate data.
• Each weather phenomenon’s month-wise hazard levels posed to the respective district has been enlisted in this one-of-its-kind atlas.
  • In all, 640 maps are available in the online atlas.

 Royal Gold Medal 2022:

Architect Balkrishna Doshi will receive the Royal Gold Medal 2022, one of the world’s highest honours for architecture.

• With a 70 year career and over 100 built projects, 94-year-old Mr. Doshi has influenced the direction of architecture in India and its adjacent regions through both his practice and his teaching.

Given in recognition of a lifetime’s work, the Royal Gold Medal is approved personally by Queen Elizebth II and is given to a person or group of people who have had a significant influence on the advancement of architecture