Cybercrime drains up to $140 billion from the US economy anually

[Scorpus]

A new study from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, with help from McAfee, has revealed the cost of cybercrime on the United States economy: as much as $140 billion and half a million jobs each year. Or at least "that's our best guess", according to James Andrew Lewis, director of technology and public policy at the center.

Rather than relying on inaccurate surveys of companies to come up with the figure, the center relied on models that are also used for estimating the economic effects of car crashes and ocean piracy. Four years ago a survey-based study estimated that cybercrime contributed to $1 trillion of annual losses in the US economy, however many criticized the figure for being far too high; McAfee claims that the new study significantly refines this figure.

The report looked at a range of different forms of cybercrime, including phishing and text messaging scams, loss of sensitive business information, intellectual property theft, damage to reputation, service disruptions and security costs. The center was still looking into the effect of cybercrime on innovation, and suggests a follow-up to this report may include a larger figure once this is factored in.

A press conference on Monday featured McAfee vice president Phyllis Schneck, who claimed the "sharper, accurate" estimate would help executives at other companies assess the importance of investments related to cybersecurity. She also said the overall issue of cybercrime and its effects go "much, much deeper", and that one day she hopes that not as much money will need to be spent to curb the effects of cybercrime.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/53326-cybercrime-drains-up-to-140-billion-from-the-us-economy-anually.html

 

[Tygerstrike]

Who would have thought 25 years ago that you could be held up with a computer lol. Some guy steps out of a dark alley, in his hands he is holding a deadly KEYBOARD!!!
All joking aside that is a rather high number. Now comes the posts that deride the govt for not protecting us, then the rebuttal posts of the govt shouldnt have to protect us. Truth is no one can protect us. We have gotten complacient with our computers. They live in our homes much like our fridges or microwaves. As with our smartphones, we put too much trust into them. We think they are secure, but the average PC user couldnt tell you if their system was secure or not! Untill we as the public get smarter or atleast more knowledgable about cybercrime, that number will continue to grow.

 

[Zilpha]

Well, if the government would stop funneling money out of education and schools would value intellect over physical prowess, we wouldn't have such a rock stupid population, would we?

 

[Guest]

As with our smartphones, we put too much trust into them. We think they are secure, but the average PC user couldnt tell you if their system was secure or not!

I can! I have McAfee total protection edition!

Kidding aside, stories like this are just meant to scare people into handing more power for "protection" over to the government. If reporters were actually doing what that title suggests, people would loose there lunch over the amount of government waste that your tax dollars pay for. EX: We just injected 900 Billion into the economy(of borrowed money in a recession) for a "boost" along with rounds of "quantitative easing", and now our beloved president want to "refocus" his agenda on the economy. And possibly even discuss more injection of monopoly money into the economy.

140 Billion? Chump change. Maybe all these "cyber criminals" will create more jobs that are required to combat them. Should we be thanking them?

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

Kidding aside, stories like this are just meant to scare people into handing more power for "protection" over to the government. If reporters were actually doing what that title suggests, people would loose there lunch over the amount of government waste that your tax dollars pay for. EX: We just injected 900 Billion into the economy(of borrowed money in a recession) for a "boost" along with rounds of "quantitative easing", and now our beloved president want to "refocus" his agenda on the economy. And possibly even discuss more injection of monopoly money into the economy.

140 Billion? Chump change. Maybe all these "cyber criminals" will create more jobs that are required to combat them. Should we be thanking them?

$140 Billion is chump change? To who? That's not how much was stolen from the govt, that's how much was stolen from people and businesses. If some retired couple gets their bank account drained that could wreck their life. What if your identity were stolen and you didn't find out until the credit warnings started showing up in your mailbox. now you owe $15,000 (that MUST be chump change right?) and your credit score is on it's way to rock bottom.

Or maybe your idea of dealing with the knowledge that you may someday be a victim of cyber crime is just to deny the problem. If it that works for you, great, but sticking your head in sand doesn't make the problem go away.

 

[Guest]

$140 Billion is chump change? To who?

Let me make it more clear. Its chump change in comparison to the amount of money wasted by government.

My point is that the solution here is private sector protection solutions. Not new wasteful government agencies or laws that further limit your rights. Companies like Lifelock offer protection from identity theft and even a million dollar guarantee to help you through issues you may have if it were to happen to you. You seem pretty worried. You may want to look into it.

Besides, look at what company this figure is coming from. Do you think this company has nothing to gain from over estimating these figures? Think about it.

 

[Tygerstrike]

The sad part is that even if the govt DID spend billions trying to educate the US consumer, it would still fall flat. Mainly because no matter what you try to do to inform ppl, they just dont listen!!!!! A prime example for you. My father has "destroyed" 3 computers due to his surfing of pron. I told him that he shouldnt go to these sites, just grab a magazine. Its safer and you dont have to replace your computer as much. Even now after he has destroyed 3 computers, he still goes to those sites. Everytime a computer gets destroyed I tell him the same thing. EACH AND EVERYTIME he swears no one told him about viruses. I use this to help explain my point. Even when you do everything you can to protect ppl. They will do it anyways and blame it on someone else. Say like the govt....
As for the figure being inflated, how??? Its a "model" figure. Based on math. With no TRUE numbers to go by, I would suggest that they settled on a mid range number. Or a number that came up multiple times during the running of this program.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Who would have thought 25 years ago that you could be held up with a computer lol. Some guy steps out of a dark alley, in his hands he is holding a deadly KEYBOARD!!!

Yeah or he'll point a gun or knife at you and demand your keyboard for your life.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

The sad part is that even if the govt DID spend billions trying to educate the US consumer, it would still fall flat. Mainly because no matter what you try to do to inform ppl, they just dont listen!!!!! A prime example for you. My father has "destroyed" 3 computers due to his surfing of pron. I told him that he shouldnt go to these sites, just grab a magazine. Its safer and you dont have to replace your computer as much. Even now after he has destroyed 3 computers, he still goes to those sites. Everytime a computer gets destroyed I tell him the same thing. EACH AND EVERYTIME he swears no one told him about viruses. I use this to help explain my point. Even when you do everything you can to protect ppl. They will do it anyways and blame it on someone else. Say like the govt....
As for the figure being inflated, how??? Its a "model" figure. Based on math. With no TRUE numbers to go by, I would suggest that they settled on a mid range number. Or a number that came up multiple times during the running of this program.

In all honesty us techno geeks may think we know it all and are safe but we can be just as vulnerable as the ordinary layman because we become complacent and this spyware/malware is becoming pretty sophisticated.