The term “cyber insecurity” has been around for years, but now the world is treating it as a top risk
Most people think a cyberattack means a stolen password or a hacked account. But the World Economic Forum’s “Global Risk Report 2026” says the threat is bigger.
Cyberattacks can now disrupt everyday services like electricity, water, transport, banking, and emergency help. When these systems fail, it affects real life, not just computers.
The report also links cyber risk with misinformation. False information during an attack can spread panic, slow down help, and make people lose trust.
What the report means by cyber insecurity
The report includes cyber insecurity among the major risks people expect to trigger a material crisis in 2026.
In simple terms, cyber insecurity means the growing chance that attackers can disrupt digital systems that society depends on.
This risk rises as systems become more digitized, automated, and interconnected, especially industrial control systems used in energy and other critical services.
Real incidents highlighted in the report
The report points to real-world disruptions that show how cyber and physical life are merging.
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Critical infrastructure attacks in Ukraine
Several types of critical infrastructure in Ukraine have been targeted repeatedly since the invasion in February 2022. Governments are now becoming more concerned about the possibility of “back doors” being used in digital parts of critical infrastructure.
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Undersea cables getting cut
Undersea cables carry global communications. The report notes cases where undersea cables have been cut, which raises concern about large-scale disruption.
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Airport operations interrupted by drones
The report mentions repeated interruptions of airport operations due to drone activity, an example of how disruption does not always look like a classic hack but still hits critical services.
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Satellite navigation jamming and spoofing
Jamming and spoofing have targeted global satellite navigation systems, potentially impacting maritime and air transport, supply chain logistics, and agriculture technology. The report says these attacks are becoming more frequent and sophisticated.
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Solar system vulnerabilities with global scale
In 2024, ethical hackers highlighted vulnerabilities in solar energy systems that could have compromised about four million solar systems across 150 countries.
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The Bremanger dam incident in Norway
On 7 April 2025, the Bremanger dam in Norway suffered a cyber-physical attack that led to an unplanned release of water. This is a clear example of digital actions causing physical consequences.
The report also notes why these attacks are attractive to adversaries: they can often deny involvement, which complicates legal, diplomatic, and military responses.
Why misinformation belongs in the same story
When a cyber-attacks hits, the next battle is often information.
Misinformation can flood social media with fake explanations, fake videos, or misleading blame. That can delay response and increase fear.
The report links public awareness and education to risk reduction for both misinformation and cyber insecurity, showing they are treated as connected challenges in cybersecurity.
A simple way to think about it is this: cyber attacks can break services, and misinformation can break trust. Together they can destabilize communities faster than either one alone.
The quiet threat most people are not preparing for: cryptographic complacency
The report warns that future quantum computing attacks could undermine the cryptography that protects authentication and private data across the internet.
It highlights two key threat paths:
- Harvest now, decrypt later
Attackers can steal encrypted data today and store it until they can decrypt it later, threatening personal data, medical data, and intellectual property. - Breaking digital identity and authentication
Breaking public key infrastructure could allow attackers to impersonate identities and undermine trust between devices and institutions, potentially posing a risk to national critical infrastructure.
The report frames the worst case as a collapse of digital trust, where people and institutions no longer believe online systems are reliable for sensitive services.
What this means for normal people
You might not manage a power grid or run a security team, but these risks still show up in everyday life.
- More realistic scams during crises
- Outages that affect travel, payments, and services
- Confusion about what is true when misinformation spreads during an incident
- Longer-term privacy risk if stolen encrypted data is later decrypted
Simple steps that actually help
For individuals
- Treat breaking news during an outage as unverified until confirmed by multiple trusted sources.
- Use multi-factor authentication on email and banking.
- Update devices and apps regularly, since many real attacks rely on known weaknesses.
For small businesses and organizations
- Identify which systems are truly critical, especially anything tied to operations, facilities, or safety.
- Practice incident response that includes communications, because misinformation will travel faster than your ticketing system.
- Start planning for the post-quantum cryptography transition rather than waiting for a panic moment, since the report warns time matters.
Closing thought
The report paints a world where cyber risk is not just about data theft. It is about disruption, safety, and trust.
And the most dangerous incidents may be the ones that combine three things at once: a technical attack, a physical impact, and a wave of misinformation that makes people doubt what is real.
https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-risks-report-2026/
