Hack Attack: Where Do We Stand?

Hack Attack: Where Do We Stand?

November 2, 2026

My last blog dates back to October 12. Since then, several friends have contacted me to ask whether I am okay. I had stopped writing for a while because my mind was restless. Besides, more and more people are writing, and I thought I could leave it to them. But it had the opposite effect. So I am going to start writing again to find some peace of mind.

In 2010, the Rockefeller Foundation published four future scenarios. Sixteen years later, we can conclude that we are living right in the middle of that future. (I came across this report during the pandemic (2021), when I was writing an article about what the future might look like.)

The four scenarios were Lock Step (authoritarian control), Clever Together (global cooperation), Smart Scramble (local improvisation), and Hack Attack (chaos, cybercrime, and instability).

What strikes me is that today we are living in a combination of two scenarios. Internationally, Hack Attack dominates. The world order is crumbling, international organizations are losing influence, cybercrime is increasing, and disinformation is the order of the day. The international rule of law is under pressure.

But at the national level, we see precisely Lock Step. Governments are gaining increasing control over citizens. Surveillance, digital identification, data collection, and algorithms are becoming increasingly normalized. The pandemic accelerated this process.

And Curaçao? We are right in the middle of this paradox. As a small island, we are vulnerable to international crime, cyberattacks, and geopolitical instability. At the same time, control over citizens and businesses is increasing. Banks are imposing increasingly strict requirements, digital registration is expanding, and international regulations are increasingly shaping our daily lives.

The remarkable thing, therefore, is that the world is becoming increasingly difficult to govern, while citizens are becoming easier to control.

And then I ask myself: where does democracy fit into this picture? And who controls those who control us?

Miguel Goede