The losses of the global economy due to cyberattacks in 2022 could reach $8 trillion, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov wrote in his article published by External Economic Relations magazine, TASS reported.
According to Lavrov, the global community is facing a “cyber pandemic.” “Acts of cyber terrorism are of deep concern, as well as the growing number of ‘attacks’ on healthcare, financial and educational facilities and international organizations, detected during the epidemic,” he said.
Lavrov noted that criminal activity in cyberspace, according to the rating of the World Economic Forum (WEF), poses one of the five global risks and threatens the existence and successful functioning of entire industries.
“According to the WEF, in 2019 alone, the losses of the global economy from cyberattacks are estimated at $2.5 trillion, and by 2022 this figure may reach $8 trillion,” he said.
According to Lavrov, global information space could turn into the theater of new war operations because of actions carried out by some countries. He noted that some capitals are trying to impose their rules in the cybersecurity sphere. “They are seeking to preserve technological advantages and continue taking unilateral coercive steps in the sphere of information and communications technology (ICT) in order to finally arrogate the right to independently apportion blame for cyber incidents,” the top diplomat explained. “All this could finally turn the global information space into a new theater of war operations.”
Meanwhile, the Russian foreign minister noted that Russia’s principal stance in this field enjoys the broadest support in the world.
“In 2018, the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly adopted our resolution by the overwhelming majority of votes, which did not only outline the initial list of rules of behavior for states in the information space but also created an effective negotiating mechanism in the format of a special open-ended working group for solving the problem of ensuring international information security under the UN auspices,” Lavrov noted.
