Cyber attacks, war at top of WEF elites' fears

London

THE threat of large-scale cyber attacks and a "deteriorating geopolitical landscape" since the election of US President Donald Trump have jumped to the top of the global elite's list of concerns, the World Economic Forum (WEF) said ahead of its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

The growing cyber dependency of governments and companies, and the associated risks of hacking by criminals or hostile states, has replaced social polarisation as a main threat to stability over the next decade, according to the WEF's yearly assessment of global risks, published on Wednesday at Bloomberg LP's new European headquarters in London. The Davos forum starts on Jan 23 in the Swiss ski resort.

While the economic outlook has improved, nine in 10 of those surveyed said that they expect political or trade clashes between major powers to worsen. Some 80 per cent saw an increased chance …