invest in a safe digital future

internet scams have come a long way since the cliched emails from a Nigerian prince seeking financial support to reclaim his kingdom. in today’s day and age, a simple accidental click on a link in a spam message could be enough to surrender control of one’s entire device. in some cases, as with the instances of zero-click iPhone hacks, even that might not be necessary. in the US, a record number of complaints, 791,790, were received in 2020 — a 69% increase over 2019. the reported losses exceeded $4.1 billion.

there’s a scramble for adequate cybersecurity services, and, for the investor with vision, that presents an opportunity.

a growing menace

cyber attacks go far beyond just email phishing and the consumer internet. in recent times, we’ve seen one of USA’s most important power grids be taken offline by alleged Russian hackers, in a completely remote operation. Russian elements are also alleged to have a hand in the Solarwinds hack which is supposed to have opened up access to several vital departments of the US administration.

the internet has grown wild and vast very quickly, and with Facebook (Meta) leading a big tech charge towards a metaverse, it will only continue to balloon. with technology looking to scale a new frontier, the problem of cybersecurity is likely to only become more acute.

the internet has grown wild and vast very quickly, and with Facebook (Meta) leading a big tech charge towards a metaverse, it will only continue to balloon. with technology looking to scale a new frontier, the problem of cybersecurity is likely to only become more acute.

safe bet

there are a fair number of publicly listed companies in the field that make cybersecurity tools such as anti-virus software, offer enterprise firewall solutions, perform data recoveries, and more. but investing for high growth in a nascent sector is best done in a manner that offers the highest probability of success. an investment in a single company might be a hit or miss, but investing in funds that do the legwork for you and put together a basket of the best stocks increases the chances of making good returns. such funds, if they are also publicly traded, are known as Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).

one such option is First Trust’s CIBR (CIBR), the largest cybersecurity ETF, which tracks an index jointly created by Nasdaq and the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). it has a total AUM (assets-under-management) of over $4.8 billion. another is the ETFMG Prime Cyber Security ETF (HACK). its diverse portfolio has companies providing cyber security solutions that include hardware, software, and services.

digital security is one of the few truly universal business opportunities, in that it will be needed by virtually everyone on every device. any investment made now is likely to be part of the ‘early stage’, with the possibility of exponential growth on the cards.