Cybersecurity and Decision Makers

1An Increasingly Vulnerable World

1.1. The context

1.1.1. Technological disruptions and globalization

Technological disruptions are mostly digital in nature: automated knowledge, networks of connected objects, advanced robotics, 3D printing, cloud computing (85% of companies store data in a cloud; this practice is becoming more commonplace), mobile Internet, autonomous vehicles.

Until 2011, digital risks, or cyber-risks, did not appear in the World Economic Forum’s major risk ranking.

According to the 2019 World Economic Forum study, technology will play a fundamental role in the risk landscape over the next decade, including data theft (personal data, data from companies, public organizations and governments), identity theft and cyber-attacks, as well as deadly “bugs”, as shown by the Boeing 737 MAX crashes. According to the Washington Post, several flaws were discovered in the software of the aircraft’s flight system. The preliminary investigation report on the Ethiopian Airlines crash clearly blames this accident on a failure of the MCAS stall protection system, which had already been identified in the Lion Air accident five months earlier. Not only was the information sent by the probes incorrect, but it was not possible for the pilots to take control of the aircraft.

This accident shows the risks of technological or digital failures, as well as the need to have them tested and certified by independent authorities. It also shows that digital accidents are not necessarily ...