Trust in the Internet: The Economic Dimension of Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity was a prime topic at this year’s Munich Security Conference. If, for instance, the cloud service provider AWS with its 42% market share was successfully attacked, it would take down large parts of the Internet, with impacts worse than kinetic warfare by some measures.
Overall economic losses from cyberattacks are estimated at 600bn $, or 1% of global GDP, with sharp growth rates as all parts of the economy are moving online. Still, these figures reflect just the tip of the iceberg. Many potentials for digital value creation cannot be realized due to lack of trust. Germans, for instance, feel queasy about online banking: Only half of Germans trust the security of digital transactions, stifling uptake of new fintech business models.