Hackers, innovation, malice & cybercrime

In the 1950s, "phreakers" whistled their ways into free long-distance calls. Steve Wozniak then improved on the scam, making enough cash to get Apple started along with Steve Jobs.

Many of today's hackers are also bored kids trying to beat the system and make a quick buck in the process. But they can also do more sinister things, Ian Bremmer tells GZERO World.

The annual global cost of cybercrime has almost tripled since 2005. If it were an economy, cybercrime would be the world's third-largest after the US and China.

We saw the impact with the 2021 ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline, enabled by a single compromised password. Indeed, hackers only need a tiny opening to bring down a company or a country. And they know that in Beijing, Moscow, Pyongyang, and Tehran.

So, what can we do about it?

Watch the GZERO World episode: Hackers, Russia, China: cyber battles & how we win