Between 2020 and 2025, the global risk landscape has undergone a profound transformation, shaped by pandemics, climate change, geopolitical instability, and rapid technological adoption. An analysis of global risk rankings over this five-year period reveals not only shifting priorities but also one consistent and growing concern: cybersecurity. The Centre for Police Technology (CPT), after studying the risk rankings presented in the global risk timeline, highlights cybersecurity as a structural and long-term threat with direct implications for national security, policing, governance, and public trust.
In 2020, cybersecurity ranked third, overshadowed primarily by pandemics and climate change. At that time, cyber risks were largely perceived as technical or sector-specific issues. However, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digital dependence worldwide, pushing governments, businesses, courts, police forces, and citizens into online ecosystems almost overnight. This digital surge exposed systemic vulnerabilities, rapidly elevating cybersecurity concerns.
By 2021, cybersecurity climbed to second rank, reflecting the explosion of ransomware attacks, data breaches, and cyber espionage incidents targeting healthcare systems, critical infrastructure, and government databases. The weaponisation of cyber space became increasingly evident, with state and non-state actors using cyber tools for disruption, surveillance, and economic damage.
In 2022 and 2023, cybersecurity firmly occupied the third position, closely intertwined with geopolitical instability. CPT’s analysis shows that cyber risks no longer operate in isolation; instead, they act as force multipliers during geopolitical conflicts, elections, social unrest, and economic crises. Cyberattacks on energy grids, financial systems, and law enforcement databases became tools of hybrid warfare.
The years 2024 and 2025 further cement cybersecurity’s place among the top three global risks, alongside climate change and geopolitical instability. The rise of AI, big data, deepfakes, and automated cybercrime has intensified the threat landscape, making cyber risks more scalable, anonymous, and difficult to attribute.
According to the Centre for Police Technology, this consistent high ranking signals a paradigm shift. “Cybersecurity has evolved from a technical vulnerability into a core national security risk. The rankings from 2020 to 2025 clearly demonstrate that cyber threats are no longer episodic; they are permanent, adaptive, and deeply embedded in every other global risk,” stated CPT in its research note.
CPT emphasizes that policing, internal security, and governance models must urgently adapt by investing in cyber forensics, cyber intelligence, skilled manpower, and public-private collaboration. As global risks converge, cybersecurity stands out not just as a rank on a chart, but as the backbone risk influencing climate response systems, financial stability, social harmony, and state sovereignty itself.
