(Expansion) – A common problem in the world of cyber risks is that they are believed to be independent or isolated from the rest of the elements of life; They are not related to what we already know, but are perceived as something new that technology has brought.
When viewed in isolation, we cannot accurately identify the scope of its consequences, which can be even more devastating than many imagine.
Cyber risks are part of everything, they can be related to everything, they not only exist when we talk about computers or systems, they exist in many areas of life and in the same sense they can generate consequences in different areas. Therefore, if we broaden our approach to managing these risks, we can measure the catastrophic effects that they can generate.
Cyber risks come from technology, they are related to cybersecurity, but we cannot stop there, they go further. Now many things connect to the internet, relate to systems and handle data; for example, televisions, security cameras, even refrigerators or coffee makers, and in the same way they are vulnerable to cyber risks, and in that sense, we are vulnerable to them, even in the physical world.
Today I particularly want to focus on the relationship that cyber risks can have with the environment, how they can impact it, and how these effects can be managed in some way.
For example, an attack by a hacker on the systems of an oil company can be transferred to the physical world, if in some way the attack reaches the industrial control systems of the company, they can end up affecting a pipeline, and in that sense generate physical damage to the company, environmental damage and damage to third parties.
This can occur in different types of industries: chemical, water, maritime, energy, among others that operate through industrial control systems. This being the case, the effects of the attack go far beyond the systems that may be affected in the foreground.
Therefore, the need to manage cyber risks is evident to avoid adverse consequences on the environment, especially in systems of this nature, which have greater vulnerabilities and often do not have the necessary updates to protect themselves.
In that sense, we have to stop seeing technology or the cybernetic as something only immaterial, if its existence is derived from the physical world. The internet and the cloud do not travel through the air, they exist in the physical world through servers, data centers, cables, which consume energy and generate waste, therefore, they pollute and impact the environment.
A hacker or damage to a system can impact the environment, but so does the simple existence of technology and everything that surrounds it. Likewise, natural disasters themselves, and even those generated by environmental damage caused for example as a consequence of the imbalance in the climate that generate floods or fires, can affect technology, since, as I mentioned, their existence depends on a physical structure. .
Thus, technology and its cyber risks interfere with the environment and vice versa, they are two great risks that are not mutually exclusive, and they have a lot to do with it. Therefore, their management must result from a collaboration between the two.
– The first thing is that cybersecurity should not be neglected in industries sensitive to the environment. These types of companies must see cyber security, as well as a way to protect their operation, as a way to curb the environmental impact as a result of cyberattacks.
– The above is not only a task for sensitive industries, it is for all companies, cybersecurity helps improve the functioning of cities, reduces fraud, protects personal and corporate information, and safeguards the physical world.
– Technology can also be used as a tool for the preservation of the environment, for example, through the creation of smart cities that can generate adequate urban sustainability and smart management in the field of natural resources. Technology serves to generate a positive environmental impact.
– Finally, technology, and in general the cybernetic world, can explore the use of renewable energy in its operation, and in this way reduce the environmental impact.
Although the environmental world is different from the cybernetic one, they are not entirely independent, and just as one can affect the other, they complement each other to manage and thus reduce risks in the other.
Technology contributes to the development of society, to interconnection, to the evolution of processes, that is why we must look at the image from a more open perspective and thus understand that technology is also one of the ways to combat environmental damage.
Editor’s Note: Marcela Visbal is the Cyber Risk Practice Leader at Willis Towers Watson Latin America. Follow her on. The opinions published in this column belong exclusively to the author.
