The aging population crisis of 2029 had been averted by MotherCorp and their fleet of AI controlled Bots. The same technology was being used to help Finance Directors to more prudently plan and manage spending. With open data manufacturers knew when their customers needed items and as a result wastage fell. All was fine.

In fact the UN gave these bodies legal standing so that they could be Directors of companies leaving more people to enjoy life.

2035 came. On 7th February something quite unexpected happened. Simultaneously, and in a matter of seconds, all major equity and bond indices fell by 60%. Panic reigned. With open data there shouldn’t have been surprises.

So people sold and markets plummeted ANOTHER 60%. Thankfully there was someone buying and, to be quite frank, no one really cared who they were as they shed holdings over the next four hours like it was going out of fashion. Until all the indices suddenly, and with no warning, the levels returned to those the night before.

In the days that followed large companies received memos from their new shareholder - MotherCorp. They now had a majority shareholding and were replacing the board with their own bots. Fine. MotherCorp were benevolent after all?

Further investigation from underground journalists revealed what had happened. Firstly MotherCorp was actually really profitable - they had just lied in their open accounts. Far from being mothering they were controlled by a rogue Bot that was running one of the remaining drug cartels. It was public information but no one had looked - it was MotherCorp after all.

Caring for 100 million people using AI Bots meant that they had access to A LOT of computing power. They used this to change the pricing of the markets - and the ‘failsafe’ systems designed to prevent this type of attack. It was just too quick.

They then used their enormous cash reserves to buy everything and take control. What happened over the next 5 years when they used the smart devices to control people was far worse...

This is of course pure fiction. But could it happen?

Do we know where data is being stored?

Do we know who controls it and the companies holding it? What happens if something goes wrong? Is there a risk of being locked out of your data?

Are we awake to the cyber security risks?

As we use technology all the more to streamline the way we do business we need to consider this. When we conduct due diligence on systems and products we need to be asking these things.

We live in a shrinking, interconnected world. We can’t ignore the risks.