FORTUNE previews the recently released report, Overcome by cyber risks? Economic benefits and costs of alternate cyber futures, published in partnership by the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security and the Zurich Insurance Group:
The security of these connected systems is often lacking. Just look at any of the major data breaches that have walloped industry and the public sector recently: Target, Chase, Anthem, Sony, the Office of Personnel Management, and so on. These incidents lead one to wonder: Might the cost of breaches ever outweigh the benefits of connectivity?
That’s the question the Atlantic Council, an international affairs think thank based in Washington, D.C., set out to answer in a study released this week. The report’s conclusion? “A future where the annual costs of being connected outweigh the benefits is not only possible, it is happening now,” the authors write. “This is the bad news.”
Gasp! Has the promise of the digital revolution been an elaborate lie all along?
Not quite, the authors proceed. In their model, the advantages of connectivity accrue, while the costs strike as one-time expenses. By their accounting, connectivity still wins.