The record-breaking number of cybercrime incidents has a surprising, and overlooked, cause – negatively trending social mood.
Cisco, GitHub, TikTok, Snowflake, Ticketmaster, 3 B as in billion Social Security records, and now, North America’s 8th largest airport, Seattle-Tacoma — the list of victims of recent cyberattacks continues by the day. Forbes on Feb. 28, 2024, verifies: “2023 saw a 72% increase in data breaches since 2021, an all-time record.”
What the hack is going on?
That’s the million-dollar ransom question. And, our brand-new September 2024 Socionomist can pay, in full! Well, not really, but – we have a surprising, and overlooked, explanation.
The truth is, nefarious actors aren’t the cause; they’re merely doing the bidding of negatively trending mood. For newbies, social mood is the expression of human psychology in aggregate, which is mapped onto the performance of major stock markets. Socionomics is the science of social mood.
From the September 2024 Socionomist report “Hacked! Negative Mood is Fueling a Growing Number of Cyberattacks” by the Socionomic Institute’s Chuck Thompson:
Figure 1 shows how negatively trending mood is fueling cyberattacks on a global scale. The top line represents the number of cyber incidents across all countries between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2023. The bottom line represents the Dow Jones Industrial Average divided by gold, which we are using as a proxy for global social mood. The inflation-adjusted index represents the true value of stocks.
Cyberattacks represent what the February 2012 issue of The Socionomist called “belligerence-on-the-cheap.”
For countries that experience market corrections and struggling economies, hacks are far more affordable than conventional weapons when attacking other nations. The February 2012 issue warned that as governments struggle to neutralize cyber threats, they will seek to control and shut down larger and larger swaths of the internet. This will fuel a growing authoritarian/anti-authoritarian conflict.
The scope and record-breaking number of cyberattacks run the gamut, from individual identity theft and fraud on one end to all-out cyber war on the other. As Chuck Thompson concludes in his report:
If you’ve been fortunate enough to avoid a cyberattack, a recent incident may have ended your good-luck streak.
Subscribe today to read the full report, including another surprising insight — the cover story on correlation between the height and intensity of amusement park rollercoasters and the trend in the stock market.
“Knowledge is power” – sure, but…
Not all knowledge is created equal. You could spend hours listening to mainstream experts using the same tired reasoning to explain trends in the economy, politics and culture. But all they’re doing is telling you why something has already happened.
By contrast, insights rooted in understanding social mood trends are forward-looking. Like the insight you’ve just read, socionomics equips you with tools to forecast.
See for yourself when you read the full September 2024 Socionomist – including Chuck Thompson’s full report on cyber-attacks.
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