Watch live: Will the costs of cyber insecurity outweigh connectivity's benefits?

Join Passcode and the Atlantic Council's Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security for a discussion on the Atlantic Council's  report "Risk Nexus: Overcome by Cyber Risks? Economic Benefits and Costs of Alternate Cyber Futures" on Oct. 15 from 9 to 10:30 am.

Newspaper headlines inundate us with stories about massive data breaches, disruptive cyberattacks, and espionage against government agencies and companies. With risks mounting, our new report uses economic modeling tools to understand how cyber costs and benefits might affect global GDP and envision a set of different cyber futures to unfold within the next fifteen years.

The bad news: A future where the annual spending on cyber insecurities outweighs the benefits of being connected is not only possible, but has already occurred in the United States and other high-income economies.

The good news: Although the costs are higher on an annual basis, the benefits accumulate over time. Through the year 2030, the cumulative global benefits of being connected should still outpace the costs by nearly $160 trillion. The difference between the best and worst forecasts for the future of the Internet — and with it the fate of the global marketplace — is a startling $120 trillion, and will depend on how we manage today’s risks and harness the potential benefits.

The event will gather prominent cybersecurity experts and business leaders to discuss what we can learn from the report’s findings and how we can develop new strategies and policy measures to steer us towards the most rewarding cyber futures.

Speakers:

Tucker Bailey, Partner, McKinsey & Company

Jason Healey, @Jason_Healey, Senior Fellow, Cyber Statecraft Initiative, Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, Atlantic Council; Senior Research Scholar, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University

John Soughan, Head of Proposition Management and Development, Zurich North America

Moderated by:

Tal Kopan, @TalKopan, Reporter, CNN Politics

Event Details:

Thursday, October 15, 2015
9 - 10:30 am
1030 15th Street, NW, 12th Floor (West Tower), Washington, DC

You can follow Passcode on Twitter at @CSMPasscode and Atlantic Council at @AtlanticCouncil. 

Join the conversation via the hashtag #ACCyber.

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