Warning Signs are Clear: We’re heading toward a Digital Crisis

People’s lives are increasingly intertwined with digital systems, heightening users’ vulnerability and insecurity.

Data leaks, such as the 2017 Equifax breach and the recent attack on Marks & Spencer, demonstrate that online data and business operations remain vulnerable. It is likely that action won’t be taken until a widespread crisis occurs.

Research reveals significant shortcomings in our approaches to risk and innovation. Digital technologies are reshaping social life, yet they also pose substantial risks, including malfunctions and vulnerabilities to manipulation.

Governments often struggle to distinguish between beneficial and harmful societal contributions. The digital economy includes businesses that rely on information technology and the internet, with leading companies profiting significantly while shifting risks onto society.

This situation could trigger a systemic digital crisis, resulting in failures of essential services, such as electricity or telecommunications, due to cyberattacks. Notably, there are similarities between the current state of the digital economy and the 2008 financial crisis.

We are seeing in the digital world, much like in the pre-crisis financial world, what the American sociologist calls “tight coupling.” This occurs when systems are highly interconnected without sufficient redundancy, which can potentially lead to disastrous outcomes.

Complex systems tend to be riskier due to their high levels of interconnectedness. Unexpected risks can cause failures to spread throughout the system. The digital economy reflects this, with a focus on rapid growth as businesses strive to become as large as possible as quickly as possible.

The 2008 financial crisis and today’s digital economy highlight increased interdependence and reduced redundancy. In finance, heavy borrowing boosted earnings but limited capital for losses. Similarly, continuous data collection in the digital economy increases dependency among datasets, platforms, and companies.

In the digital economy, growing interdependence is crucial. The “move fast and break things” mentality drives companies to quickly eliminate competitors and diminish analog alternatives to their digital networks.

The rapid growth of digital giants complicates the digital economy and reinforces monopolistic networks. Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, where warning signs were hidden, the dangers in today’s digital economy are obvious and visible to all.

The WannaCry and NotPetya malware attacks in 2017 caused billions in damages, while the 2024 CrowdStrike incident disrupted thousands of flights and broadcasts. These ongoing hacks highlight system vulnerabilities, and the rise of artificial intelligence has introduced new risks, including AI hallucinations and misinformation.

The rapid advancement of AI is expected to heighten risks to confidentiality, system integrity, and availability. This poses a significant issue, as these risks remain unaddressed and continue to grow. It highlights a deeper political problem: while we can regulate after a crisis, we struggle to prevent the next one.

2 Corinthians 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Revelation 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

Revelation 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

Revelation 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

Revelation 13:12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

Revelation 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

Revelation 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

Revelation 13:15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

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