These days, technology and business are inseparable, and companies can’t operate efficiently without the help of robust applications and systems.

But too often organizations focus on the dominant technology of today while ignoring the new applications that will be disruptive in the not-too-distant future. It’s no longer enough to have competency and understanding of the risks associated with commonly used technologies. Now, organizations must be studying and monitoring the digital tools they’ll be using in the next six months—or in the next five years—to stay head of threat actors in an increasingly volatile world.

To help companies understand what’s on the horizon, highlighted here are five emerging technology risks that should be on every organization’s radar.^[1]

No. 1: Artificial intelligence

The risk:

• Threat actors can exploit AI because anything that has logic controls associated with it can be influenced or attacked
• AI has the potential to learn and adjust its own behavior, which could include new behaviors that become organizational risks

The opportunity:

• AI is a powerful tool to integrate into security
• Machine learning technology can be used to investigate attacks, such as insider fraud

No. 2: Alternative payments

The risk:

• Companies need to recognize the intersection of fraud risk and cyber risk to understand their exposure
• A social engineering attack, for example, could subsequently lead to crypto-wallet fraud

The opportunity:

• The ability to transfer funds or store wealth in new ways is a game changer for companies
• Added layers of protection via blockchain technologies are paramount for the advancement of alternative payments

No. 3: Technology supply chain

The risk:

• Third-party technology can improve enterprise risk management, but are ripe for exploitation because of the amount of sensitive information transferred back and forth
• A legitimate software update on a third-party access control application, for example, that has malware implanted into it can affect primary, secondary and tertiary members of that supply chain.

The opportunity:

• Be vigilant about those vulnerabilities by quantifying what may happen should supply-chain technology become compromised
• Hold suppliers to your own cyber standards to ensure quality and assurance

No. 4: Retirement plans

The risk:

• Cybercriminals have identified retirement funds as a soft spot for many organizations because they involve sensitive data and are gateways to vast sums of money
• In recent years, there have been examples of retirement savings drained after a compromise of their login credentials

The opportunity:

• Organizations can rethink their architecture of security mechanisms and risk management
• Companies need to ensure retirement plans are protected against just as securely as more obvious cyberattack arenas like ecommerce.

No. 5: The dark web

The risk:

• The dark web is the playground of threat actors, making it an important place to keep tabs on
• But organizations shouldn’t charge unskilled personnel with the task of unearthing insights on the dark web

The opportunity:

• Companies can plot out how to collect dark web insights by surveying what’s going on within industry sectors and understanding threat activity
• Close collaboration with regulators and law enforcement can help increase cyber resilience

^{[1] Aon 2021 Cyber Security Risk Report}