Adversarial evolution: Competing dynamics and reactive institutional forms in financial services ecosystem

In this paper we conceptually illustrate the adversarial evolution of cybercrime and cybersecurity operations in financial services ecosystem. Building upon the concept of organizational morphing and ecosystem formation, we aim to reconstruct the parallel and conflict-driven evolution of the bright and dark side of financial services. Firstly, we identify five phases from the late 90s to the post-2015 period that show the paired configuration in the morphing of the two opposing sides. Secondly, we propose a conceptual model for digital ecosystems evolution based on the mutual influence of conflicting actors. This paper is a first foundational work towards a broader instantiation of generativity through adversarial evolution of digital ecosystems.