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The challenge of security:
Cyber, Quantum, Food, Water & Biosecurity
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We live in an age of ever-greater threats - every day ourselves, our communities and our planet is grappling with how to maintain our security.
COVID-19 has disrupted our everyday lives as well as our short-term digital and food-related security. The World Bank has confirmed that COVID-19 impacts have led to severe and widespread increases in global food insecurity, affecting vulnerable households in almost every country, with impacts expected to continue through 2021 and into 2022.
It has also highlighted significant challenges for global biosecurity - and that there is no meaningful international legal oversight in place to accompany global developments. The United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity puts the onus on individual countries to regulate their own biotech industries. While there are protocols for the safe handling and transfer of living modified organisms, there are still no agreed international standards governing laboratory safety, monitoring and information sharing.
Finally, it is clear that cyber criminals are particularly looking for opportunities to exploit this ‘new norm’. Indeed, the hack of the Colonial Pipeline in the US was just one of a series of cyber-attacks that have hit the United States and elsewhere recently. Hackers have taken down JBS, the world’s largest meat processor, disrupting the global meat market, closed schools in Iowa and hit hospitals in Ireland in what experts say is a dangerous escalation of a crime wave that has swelled from the small-scale blackmail operations of a few years ago to major assaults that threaten the livelihoods – and potentially lives – of millions.
Tackling this explosion in hacking will take action from everyone, from governments to private citizens. Cybersecurity - like all forms of security we are discussing in this edition - is a shared responsibility and cybersecurity solutions are no doubt going to be digital first responders as we emerge from the pandemic.
Across all of our focus areas, which we explore in further detail below, supply chain resilience and provenance are very important sub-themes to consider, work on and overcome. It is also something that we consider very carefully in our due diligence processes.
The longer-term impact of the pandemic will be multi-faceted and influenced by the recovery paths taken by countries and corporations. But it is clear that in a number of significant - and important - areas security challenges not only remain but have been heightened over the last 18 months.
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1. Cyber
Cyber security is how individuals and organisations reduce the risk of cyber attack. Cyber security's core function is to protect the devices we all use (smartphones, laptops, tablets and computers), and the services we access - both online and at work - from theft or damage. It's also about preventing unauthorised access to the vast amounts of personal information we store on these devices, and online. Cyber security is important because smartphones, computers and the internet are now such a fundamental part of modern life, that it's difficult to imagine how we'd function without them. From online banking and shopping, to email and social media, it's more important than ever to stake steps that can prevent cyber criminals getting hold of our accounts, data, and devices.
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2. Quantum
The potential for quantum computing to revolutionise work in sectors such as meteorology metallurgy and medical research by accelerating the processing speed of difficult calculations is relatively well known. So is the threat that quantum computing may render some current methods of cryptography insecure, weakening the security that protects how we work, shop, bank and live online. Because current methods of public key cryptography are vulnerable to attack by quantum computers, it is incredibly important that researchers around the world develop new cryptographic algorithms for post-quantum security.
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3. Food
Food security, as defined by the United Nations’ Committee on World Food Security, means that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life. Over the coming decades, a changing climate, growing global population, rising food prices, and environmental stressors will have significant yet uncertain impacts on food security. Agritech will be increasingly important, as will alternative and 'green' sources of protein.
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4. Water
Freshwater is the most important resource for mankind, cross-cutting all social, economic and environmental activities. It is a condition for all life on our planet, an enabling or limiting factor for any social and technological development, a possible source of welfare or misery, cooperation or conflict. According to UNESCO, to achieve water security, we must protect vulnerable water systems, mitigate the impacts of water-related hazards such as floods and droughts, safeguard access to water functions and services and manage water resources in an integrated and equitable manner.
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5. Biological
Significant outbreaks of disease are among the highest impact risks faced by any society – threatening lives and causing disruption to public services and the economy. This is true whether such outbreaks occur naturally, such as pandemic influenza or emerging infectious diseases, or in the less likely event of a disease being caused by an accidental release from scientific or industrial facilities, or as the result of a deliberate biological attack. Large scale disease outbreaks in animals or plants can be equally significant in terms of economic, environmental and social impact. Biological security considerations also bring the issue of 'vaccine passports' or 'bio-health ID cards' to the fore.
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Challenge Investing
Within our universe, we have a significant number of companies that are helping to profitably address the significant and vitally important global challenge of security. If you’d like to invest in some of the most promising growth companies based on top research then please don't hesitate to get in touch.
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