Internet security company McAfee recently announced that the annual global cost of cybercrime is estimated to be anywhere from $375 billion to $575 billion, with the actual figure likely tipping above $400 billion. According to a recent McAfee survey, not only does cyber crime damage trade between nations, but it slows the pace of global innovation.
Company executives explained to The Telegraph that they want governments to begin a serious and systematic effort to collect and publish data on cybercrime. That way, countries and companies can receive the necessary assistance to make smart choices about risk and policy.
Mark Sparshott, EMEA director of security firm Proofpoint, told the news source that many criminals are attracted to cybercrime because of the relatively low risk level.
“The volumes of attacks are increasing because it is a profitable business model for organized crime,” he said. ” With cyber crime there is no risky getaway because the attack is routed through hundreds or thousands of PCs in dozens of countries, making it almost impossible to trace. The internet makes most attacks anonymous and untraceable and that is really attractive to cybercriminals.”
The report added that the cybercrime recovery costs could be significantly higher than the initial monetary loss. McAfee cited a study from Italy, which showed that one company had cybercrime losses of $875 million, but the recovery and opportunity costs were $8.5 billion.
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