Did you know that cybercrime costs the world a lot more than the global black market in marijuana, cocaine and heroin combined?
A recent study by Norton shows that the cost of global cybercrime is $114 billion annually. And based on the value victims surveyed placed on time lost due to cybercrime experiences, an additional $274 billion has been estimated to be lost. At $388 billion, the global cybercrime is said to be more than 100 times the annual expenditure of UNICEF (estimated at $3.65 billion)
In India, an estimated 29.9 million people are said to have become victims to cybercrime last year, suffering $4 billion in direct financial losses and an additional $3.6 billion in time spent resolving the crime.
“With 431 million adult victims globally in the past 12 months and at an annual price of $388 billion, cybercrime costs the world significantly more than the global market in marijuana, cocaine and heroin combined, estimated at $288 billion,” says the report.
The report revealed that 14 adults turn a victim of cybercrime every second, resulting in more than a million cybercrime victims every day and in India, four out of every five online adults became a victim of the crime in the past year.
With cybercriminals focusing their efforts on the mobile space, the number of reported new mobile operating system vulnerabilities has increased from 115 in 2009 to 163 in 2010.
“It has been found that the most common and preventable type of cybercrime globally is computer viruses and malware, followed by online scam and phishing messages. There is however a serious disconnect in how people view the threat of cybercrime,” said Mr Gaurav Kanwal, Country Sales Manager (India and SAARC), Consumer Business Unit, Symantec.
Stating that cybercrime was much more prevalent than people realise, he said: “Over the past 12 months, three times as many adults surveyed were hit by online crime versus offline crime. Lots need to be done to bring cybercriminals to justice. Fighting cybercrime is a shared responsibility and this requires more alertness and investment in online safety.”