The cost of cyber crime to the UK economy amounted to $11.4 billion (£6.8 billion) in 2013, or 0.16% of the country’s GDP, a report from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) shows.
The research, sponsored by internet security company McAfee, reveals that the blow
Cyber crime costs UK economy £6.8 billion
cyber crime deals to the global economy costs about $445 billion (£266 billion) a year.
It is believed that more than 800 million people were affected by cyber espionage and theft of personal information in 2013. The report indicates that about 150,000 Europeans could lose their jobs because of financial losses from cyber theft.
Innovation, competitiveness, international trade and global economic growth are all affected by cyber crime. McAfee made a call to governments to undertake the task of collecting and publishing data on cyber crime and thus allow both countries and companies to make wiser choices regarding risk and policies.
Although a London-based business suffered losses of £800 million after a single attack in 2012, for most cyber criminals it is still difficult to monetise stolen data. CSIS analysis indicates that cyber crimes draw out 15% to 20% of the value created by the internet.
According to EMEA director of security firm Proofpoint, Mark Sparshott, many criminals choose cyber crime because of its low risk. The number of attacks is increasing and, as they are routed via hundreds or even thousands of computers in various countries, they are impossible to trace, he said as quoted by The Telegraph.
EMEA Chief Technology Officer for McAfee, Raj Samani, agrees that the return on cyber crime can be huge and the risks are low. With businesses increasingly moving online and more and more consumers using the Internet, cyber crime will become even stronger, Samani warns, urging countries to unite in their fight against this looming threat.
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