Manage the risk before it manages us: Ridge
The US needs to manage emerging risks before they begin to manage the US—while also accepting change as a positive force.
This is the opinion of Tom Ridge, the first secretary of the US department of homeland security, speaking at the PCI annual meeting in Hollywood, Florida, yesterday (Monday October 26).
“We have challenges, we always have and we always will,” said Ridge. “But we are up to the task.”
Ridge, who also serves as a partner at Ridge-Schmidt Cyber, a firm that helps companies manage their cyber security, explained that, with over half of the world’s population now connected to the internet, one of the biggest treats is cyber crime.
“By 2020, it’s expected that 50 billion devices will be connected to the internet. The internet will be like electricity in the next five to 10 years’ time,” he said.
Ridge believes there is a cyber war currently going on and the private and public sectors must unite and share information.
“It’s about time the government started sharing information; we need to give you a safe harbour,” he said. “We have a responsibility as citizens and companies to do what we can to mitigate the risk as well. We’re all in this together.”
In 2014, Ridge teamed up with Lloyd’s to launch an insurance company specialising in corporate cyber security policies. Ridge Insurance Solutions sells cyber policies covering the cost of notifying customers that their data has been breached, hits to profits from negative publicity and the threat of extortion.
