Global cybercrime losses top $1trn

Global losses from cybercrime now total more than $1trn and are up over 50% in two years, according to new research from McAfee Corp, which also reveals a lack of understanding when it comes to cyber risk. Based on a survey of 1,500 IT and business decision makers, McAfee’s loss figure is based on $945bn from cybercrime and more than $145bn spent on cybersecurity. The $1trn total equates to more than 1% of global GDP. This total is up more than 50% on the same study in 2018, which put global losses close to $600bn. Two thirds of surveyed companies reported some kind of cyber incident in 2019. Average interruption to operations was 18 hours. The average cost per incident was more than half a million dollars. Intellectual property theft and financial crime account for at least 75% of cyber losses and pose the greatest threat to companies, the research finds. The The Hidden Costs of Cybercrime report also considers damage to business beyond financial loss, with 92% of organisations reporting such effects. This damage includes business downtime, a hit to brand reputation and reduced efficiency. System downtime is a common experience for about two thirds of respondent organisations. The average cost from their longest amount of downtime in 2019 was $762,231. Some 33% of survey respondents said IT security incidents resulting in system downtime cost them between $100,000 and $500,000. As a result of system downtime, organisations lost on average nine working hours a week, leading to reduced efficiency. Some 26% of respondents identified damage to brand from the downtime. The report also finds that it took an average of 19 hours for most organisations to move from discovering an incident to remediation. The research and analysis conducted with CSIS also suggests a “lack of organisation-wide understanding of cyber risk”. McAfee says this makes companies and agencies “vulnerable to sophisticated social engineering tactics and, once a user is hacked, not recognising the problem in time to stop the spread”. Just over half (56%) of surveyed organisations said they do not have a plan to both prevent and respond to a cyber incident. Only 32% of the 951 organisations that actually have a response plan believe it would be effective. The report concludes with key ways for businesses to help them deal with cybercrime. These include uniform implementation of basic security measures, increased transparency by organisations and governments, standardisation and coordination of cybersecurity requirements, providing cybersecurity awareness training for employees, and developing prevention and response plans. Steve Grobman, SVP and CTO at McAfee, commented: “The severity and frequency of cyberattacks on businesses continues to rise as techniques evolve, new technologies broaden the threat surface, and the nature of work expands into home and remote environments. “While industry and government are aware of the financial and national security implications of cyberattacks, unplanned downtime, the cost of investigating breaches and disruption to productivity represent less-appreciated, high-impact costs. We need a greater understanding of the comprehensive impact of cyber risk and effective plans in place to respond and prevent cyber incidents, given the hundreds of billions of dollars of global financial impact,” he added. McAfee commissioned independent technology market research specialist Vanson Bourne to undertake the poll between April and June 2020. Respondents were from the US (300), Canada (200), the UK (200), France (200), Germany (200), Australia (200) and Japan (200). Respondent organisations had more than 1,000 employees and came from all sectors apart from construction and property.

Global cybercrime losses top $1trn

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