As cyber risk becomes a fixture atop board agendas, today's directors face an interesting paradox. The things that drive growth at today's companies-mergers, acquisitions, globalization, digitization-are also the things that expose the organization to momentous new risks. As board members survey today's risk environment, it's important for them to be aware of any new and dangerous trends that may be coming down the pike. Expanding on Cybersecurity Ventures' 2017 Cybercrime Report, we outline four nascent trends in the world of cybercrime that all directors should have on their radar.
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Ransomware attacks are expected to increase in numbers and complexity.
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Smartphones and mobile devices will become greater targets as malware evolves beyond PCs and laptops.
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Billions of under-protected IoT devices will be deployed in the next few years leading to greater connectivity, but also greater risk.
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As attacks against government and businesses are growing increasingly more sophisticated, the cybersecurity skills gap is widening at an alarming pace.
''The greatest virtual threat today is not state-sponsored cyber-attacks; newfangled clandestine malware; or a hacker culture run amok," said John Reed Stark, former Chief of the SEC's Office of Internet Enforcement. "The most dangerous looming crisis in information security is instead a severe cybersecurity labor shortage.''
Boards and management teams need to examine their own talent development and training efforts to ensure programs are in place to internally develop these skill sets, as they will become invaluable to the company in the years ahead. From a long-term perspective, what are today's companies, government agencies, and education systems doing to address the talent shortage and spark interest/opportunities in cybersecurity for today's youth? As cybercrime continues to evolve at a rapid pace, today's boards and management teams must be prepared to assess the significant risks these trends pose to their companies. The impact of these trends ripple outwards to the corporate secretary, who must also find new ways to educate directors on cyber risk and curate relevant information from across the company. Finally, how are the members of your board communicating with one another? A recent research report by the New York Stock Exchange and Diligent allows boards to compare their communication practices to other boards, and more importantly, to identify ways in which they might be putting the company at risk. Download the report here.![](/-/media/project/diligent/master/au-whitepaper-images/whitepaper-images/a-buyers-guide-to-esg-data-management-software.png?h=511&iar=0&w=765&rev=263be577-e761-4e63-96ef-8ab461f2c7d1&hash=35A71501C65320AF30D85580C75077F4)
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