It is a sad but undeniable truth that some of the world’s most profitable products are terrible. That lightbulb realisation dawned on me when I worked on the FT’s Lex column and learnt that the most successful pharmaceutical drugs — for manufacturers if not patients — were those that alleviated symptoms but did not cure the complaint. Eliminate the problem and you kill demand. Where is the financial incentive in that? Lightbulbs, curiously enough, are another example of the same phenomenon.
The increasing use of artificial intelligence enables hackers to industrialise and personalise attacks. Some nation states, most notably Russia and North Korea, have actively colluded with gangs allowing them to act with impunity, according to Christopher Ahlberg, co-founder and chief executive of Recorded Future, a threat intelligence company. These criminals’ ability to extort money and transfer illicit funds globally through opaque crypto exchanges has helped them flourish.