Most business leaders fear that global geopolitical instability means a catastrophic cyberattack will occur by 2025.

The Guardian reports that a survey by the World Economic Forum released January 18 — the second day of the Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland — found that 93% of cybersecurity experts and 86% of business leaders believe global geopolitical instability is likely to lead to a catastrophic cyberattack in the next two years.

The poll shows that a lack of skilled cyber experts is threatening the security of business and societies.
Jürgen Stock, secretary-general of Interpol, told a press conference in Davos that the level of concern exceeds anything seen before.

Increased digitization is leading to increased connectivity, Stock explained, and making it harder to find security experts. Firms should consider reskilling staff to fill this gap, he said.

Julie Sweet, chair and chief executive officer of Accenture, said companies must “secure the core” of their business to avoid cyber disruption

Edi Rama, prime minister of Albania, told reporters that if cybercrime was a state, it would be third largest economy after U.S. and China. He said Albania has been under cyberattack from Iran since last summer.

He compares the threat of hacking to a ticking bomb, warning that sometimes you don’t know that hackers are there, and that you are sleeping on a bomb.