Cybercrime

 US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned of an “explosion of risk” from criminals using digital technologies.

Could this be how civilised life on earth ends? The spread of the internet throughout the world and the seemingly natural ability of the young, in particular, to exploit every advance in online technology is a great leveller. It seems that each time financial institutions find a new level of security the mischievous and downright criminal find a way round them. 

We are all dependent on the banks to keep our money safe but when people particularly the old and vulnerable find their accounts emptied, panic will set in. Normal order will cease as people, desperate to provide for their families, have no access to cash. House prices will plummet as people realise their net worth is diminishingly small. the people will turn on the Government with confidence in the institutions of state also plumbing new lows. Anarchy will quickly take hold and old grievances will be recalled as people with chips on their shoulders take advantage of the situation. Crime will proliferate and murders escalate. Gangs of the disadvantaged will roam the streets. Never will the phrase 'money (or the lack of it) is the root of all evil' seem more appropriate. 

The irony of it is the newly pilfered money will itself become devalued and worthless leaving the guilty unable to take advantage of their ill-gotten gains.

It is clear that to make a lot of money one should work in the money industries. Never has it been more important for Governments to monitor how they operate and be suspicious of new developments such as cryptocurrency. They wouldn't have been devised for the good of mankind; they were dreamed up to make somebody a lot of money and therefore cause someone to lose money.