Recently, there has been a tendency in the world to steadily increase the number of ways to commit financial crimes, including through fraudulent approaches to corresponding illegal activities, in the digital environment and this process demonstrates a significant degree of intensity and almost daily scaling, against which it is logical that the issue of cybersecurity has become one of the main topics at the World Economic Forum 2025 in Davos, Switzerland.
The mentioned crimes have economic consequences. In a sense, cybercrime has already become a kind of industry that generates huge revenue on a global level. The very existence of this industry is what can be called a challenge for humanity and its financial security. The algorithms for committing such crimes are becoming increasingly complex, which makes it difficult for people to identify criminal activity. At the same time, this does not mean that cybercrime is inevitable and invincible. This problem can and should be countered. The probability of effectiveness within the framework of the relevant efforts is high. It is worth noting separately that even in the age of high technology, when fraudsters use various digital algorithms in their activities, excessive human gullibility and disregard for the rules of safe behavior in the virtual space remain significant factor. Also, for the mentioned criminals, the low level of digital literacy is favorable from the point of view of their interests. At the same time, access to relevant knowledge is open. For example, an Internet search query such as how to know if my camera is hacked will allow anyone to get information about signs of unauthorized access to the device.
Keri Pearlson, executive director, of cybersecurity at MIT Sloan School of Management, stated it is very likely that an organization that has never been subjected to cyber attacks will still face a corresponding external impact at some point. It was also noted that companies do not want to wait until such an incident occurs and then implement their own plan of communication in crisis situations.
It is worth noting that the issue of cybersecurity is relevant both at the global level in the broad sense of the relevant wording and in the context of each user’s activity in a virtual environment.
According to the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Cybersecurity Outlook, cyberspace is becoming increasingly complex and challenging due to technological advances, more sophisticated cybercriminals, and tightly interconnected supply chains.
Akshay Joshi, head of the World Economic Forum Centre for Cybersecurity, stated technology is being deployed both by the good guys as well as the bad guys. It was noted that many criminal gangs are also beginning to use artificial intelligence very effectively. Besides, it was underlined that cyber resilience is no longer a nice to have.
Akshay Joshi stated that launched in 2018, the World Economic Forum Centre for Cybersecurity seeks to bridge the gap between cybersecurity leaders and business executives. In this case, cybersecurity is a strategic priority, not just a technical issue. Akshay Joshi noted that in creating a global community of senior cybersecurity leaders, the Centre works to improve cybersecurity efforts and strengthen global resilience.
There is currently an ongoing growing complexity in cyberspace. Akshay Joshi stated that the relevant process is related to many factors. In the corresponding context, among other things, the prevailing geopolitical uncertainty was mentioned. Akshay Joshi stated that 60% of executives have in some way, shape or form changed their cybersecurity strategy or it’s impacted their cybersecurity strategy overall. In this case, there is an example of the impact that geopolitical uncertainty, which is a fact of objective reality, has on cyberspace.
It is worth noting that the digital environment has already ceased to be something like a limited, in terms of many indicators, the highly specialized world within the offline life surrounding it. Currently, objective reality, defined in this case as the space for the implementation of the process of the being at all its levels, has a virtual dimension. The digital environment has a huge impact on the political, economic, social, and cultural processes of human civilization. In some industries and aspects of what can be called global being, the virtual world has become or is gradually becoming larger than the physical world. In this case, it is not the geographical scale that is meant, but the functional and semantic content of the environment. Against this background, in the form of a configuration of reality within the framework of the current historical period, cyberspace is not a kind of technological underground or a system with which a limited number of people interact, but a full-fledged part of the world as a territory of human existence. The development of artificial intelligence has already strengthened and is likely to further strengthen this global tendency.
An example of the growing importance of the digital environment is the modern war. In the past, the corresponding process was implemented only in the space of physical matter. Currently, the war has, among other things, a virtual dimension, where critical confrontations between the parties to the conflict are also taking place. In this context, it is important to note the exponentially increased value of the digital environment. Virtual acts of activities and phenomena are no longer a kind of convention of limited importance. Currently, the digital world can initiate and run processes in the physical world. Perhaps this is the main technological transformation of reality, which fills the space of human existence. From the point of view of the philosophical understanding of the mentioned ongoing process, it can be argued that a new form of the being has been formed in the broad sense of the corresponding concept. This form has a virtual nature. Some futurological forecasts suggest that artificial intelligence at a certain stage of its evolution may surpass the human mind in terms of cognitive abilities. If this happens, it is possible that AI will form a kind of environment of meanings, which will become the most advanced system for understanding the world in a cosmological aspect. This environment will also have certain technological tools that can significantly transform the material world. Within the framework of the corresponding scenario, a human will be more of an observer, rather than a kind of active unit of activity. It is worth noting that in this case, an assumption of probability is implied, and not a guaranteed configuration of the future. At the same time, the very fact that such futurological forecasts are no longer unequivocally a fantastic vision is remarkable evidence of the complexity and progressive development of cyberspace.
However, the existence of a virtual environment is powered by material systems and physical functional platforms. For example, chips are needed to train and ensure the subsequent operation of artificial intelligence systems. Microcircuits are something like the basic material element of a virtual ecosystem of machine intelligence. Also, the artificial intelligence industry will not be able to function or develop without data centers that are physical objects. It is worth noting that as progress in the AI industry scales, the demand for data centers is growing. Companies interested in integrating or developing advanced technologies are also actively investing in material infrastructure. If the relevant facilities are based in regions where there is political tension or a high probability of armed conflict, firms face additional risk factors. In this case, an example is observed that the impact of the material world on the digital environment continues to be more than significant and in some cases even critical or vital.
The configuration of cyberspace at a particular moment is a factor determining how organizations or individuals make decisions about ensuring their own security in virtual space.
Akshay Joshi stated that supply chains are becoming highly complex. In this context, it was noted that the impact on one particular player can have cascading effects on the entire supply chain. Akshay Joshi also highlighted that last year saw one of the largest IT outages due to a faulty update to a particular software. This incident had consequences for various sectors of the economy. The relevant example demonstrates how pervasive the risks associated with cyberspace are. Akshay Joshi stated that 54% of large organizations believe supply chain-related risks pose the greatest impact on their cyber resilience.
Mr. Joshi noted that cyberspace, in fact, is a reflection of how society is evolving. In this context, he noted the tremendous progress in the area of artificial intelligence. Akshay Joshi also underlined that organizations are striving to introduce AI into their environment. According to him, 66% of executives believe that artificial intelligence can have the most significant impact on cybersecurity. At the same time, he noted that 37% of organizations do not have adequate processes to safeguard against the risks associated with AI adoption.
