Cyber ​​crime spending already exceeds 1% of world GDP

It is estimated that more than US $ 1 trillion has already been spent on cybercrime in the world. more than 1% of the global gross domestic product (GDP). The information is from the report “The hidden costs of cybercrime” published by the American developer of security solutions, McAfee in partnership with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

According to the study, that figure of $ 1 trillion represents an increase of more than 50% over the last report, of 2018. The number is a sum of two factors: the damage caused by cybercrime, which is approximately US $ 945 billion, and global spending on information security, which is expected to exceed US $ 145 billion this year.

“Our 2018 report found that cybercrime cost the global economy more than $ 600 billion. Our new estimate suggests an increase of more than 50% in two years”, Write the researchers.

For the production of the report, the researchers analyzed information from the press, in addition to “non-attributable” interviews with 1500 information security professionals, from 7 different countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The results

In addition to financial expenses, the study is also concerned with analyzing the impact of cybercrime on a brand’s productivity and reputation. In more than 90% of responses, respondents reported that the effects of a cyber attack go beyond the loss of money.

More than a third (33%) said that downtime caused by cybercriminal attacks cost between $ 100,000 and $ 500,000. Already 26% said that the attack and the downtime caused by it damaged the brand reputation.

“The risk of cybercrime for operations and profits continues to rise for many organizations. The time it takes to remedy a cyber incident can be considerable. Businesses and agencies need to do more to prevent cyber incidents from occurring. And they also need to do more to speed up service restoration, resolve business interruptions and repair damage to employee morale and customer confidence, ”they write.

Another data identified in the study is related to the IP theft, where it is not always directly related to the loss of money. But, it interferes with the company’s productivity. “These attacks illustrate the non-monetary side of cyber crime.”

“IP theft was responsible for 11% of security incidents that caused the longest downtime. This was consistent across different regions. A timely example of the importance of protecting against IP theft is related to spying on medical researchers during the COVID-19 pandemic, with many credible claims that Russian and Chinese hackers were targeting vaccine research, ”they write.

The study also addresses the impact of security incidents on company data and employees, in addition to the complicated situation of insurance covering cyber crimes, where in most cases they are extremely complex and may not be as beneficial.

“Only 28% of 2017 claims resulted in a payment, with an average payment of US $ 188 thousand, much less than the average cost of US $ 590 thousand that we found for cyber attacks”, they explain.

Source: McAfee.