Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 08/2014

Beyond Data Breaches: Global Interconnections of Cyber Risk

Jason Healey

April 2014

Atlantic Council

Abstract

The Atlantic Council and Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich) have released a pioneering report, Beyond Data Breaches: Global Interconnections of Cyber Risk, to better prepare governments and businesses for the cyber shocks of the future.

Through a combination of stable technology, dedicated technicians and, resistance to random outages, the Internet has been resilient to attacks on a day-to-day basis, creating an extended period of prosperity. Yet, as we approach nearly absolute dependence on the Internet, cyber attacks of the future can and will affect globally interconnected systems like electrical grids and worldwide logistics systems. This Internet of tomorrow will be a source of global shocks for which risk managers, corporate executives, board directors, and government officials are not prepared.

This groundbreaking report, commissioned by Zurich and written by the Atlantic Council’s Jason Healey, outlines several concrete steps that must be taken to overcome these inevitable shocks of the future and prevent what could be called a “cyber sub-prime” meltdown.