It really hit me - the reality that we’re in the midst of the Fourth Industrial Revolution – when I heard Janice Gross Stein, Founding Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto, speak at the RBC Women’s Symposium in October.
According to Professor Stein, we’re well into a major disruption that’s forcing us to find solutions to new problems.
If the First Industrial Revolution saw steam-power mechanize production, the Second adopted electric power to enable mass production, the Third used information technology to automate production, this Fourth is developing technologies at an exponential rate to connect people, knowledge and things around the world.
This amazing inter-connectivity, with all its potential, also introduces the need for a new kind of security: cybersecurity. Protecting information and access points now matters personally, professionally, corporately and nationally. The same basic issue impacts our individual identities, our cities, our countries and our institutions.
Think about how different things are from the time of the Russia-US Cold War. Nations were concerned about the proliferation of weapons, but not yet about hacking into the systems that could launch those weapons. At that point, economies were minimally linked; the Russian economy didn’t matter to us, it didn’t really play a role.
Professor Stein had us ponder what it would really mean for Canada to get tough on trade with China. Our country’s leaders face a tough choice between maintaining ties with China, increasing access to its 1.4 billion consumers, and further development of an emerging 5G network. On the other hand, we’re also dependent on our neighbours to the south who expect us to follow their lead in banning Chinese tech because of concerns about tech-enabled espionage. Every policy decision is a splash that send ripples through economies around the world.
Throughout the months of May and October I interviewed several experts on cybersecurity for my podcast I’m a Millionaire! So Now What? (listen & subscribe here).
Have another listen to these relevant episodes:
Online-Security-a-few-extra-steps-give-you-extra-protection
When-Cybercrime-Hits-Your-Business
The-weak-link-in-cyber-security-its-NOT-what-you-think
It was also a focused topic during my Elevated Conversations dinners.
These are a few of the lessons I’ve picked up through my reading, interviews and conversations:
- A cybersecurity breach will affect you at some point, either at work or personally. It’s not a matter of If, but When.
- The Interconnectivity that comes with the Internet of Things (aka IOT) offers great convenience, but also ever-increasing opportunities for vulnerabilities to be taken advantage of.
- It’s OUR responsibility to stay vigilant. Everyone is a target.
- Make good use of whatever safeguards are in place: passwords, two factor authentication, professional services... Here’s an example: don’t ignore the chance to update your iPhone iOs – however annoying, those updates include patches that lock up back door entry to your system and information.
- Keep learning and training. Invest in continuous education for yourself, your team, your employees and your suppliers. When that breach happens, you’ll find that the weak link was human, not technological.
We’re in it, now… the Fourth Industrial Revolution. So we have the opportunity to embrace technology and all that it promises, and balance that with a healthy bit of skepticism to keep us on our toes.
What do you see as the potential opportunities that come with the Fourth Industrial Revolution? What do you see as the potential threats that come with the Fourth Industrial Revolution? I’d love to know. You can email me directly here.
(Keep in mind that while getting in touch you may experience our own two-way messaging via the RBC Online banking protocol, or our password-secure email. This is exactly the protection I’m talking about. And we still require verbal approval for cash transfers, because the human element is alive and well. Relationships are still key!)