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October 31, 2013

Kaspersky: Online Fraud Costs World Economy at Least $200B Each Year

By Jacqueline Lee, Contributing Writer

According to Eugene Kaspersky, founder of Kaspersky Labs, the antivirus and cyber protection company that uncovered the Stuxnet virus, old online fraud loss estimates of $100 billion per year aren't high enough.



Kaspersky, speaking at the Web Summit in Dublin, said that the amount of money stolen from banks, financial institutions, companies and individuals through online fraud could be at least double the old estimates and potentially far more.

"Three years ago we were told that the annual cost of cyber crime was around US$100 billion dollars," Kaspersky told the summit. "I would say that today that figure is multiplied many times, it is far in excess of that figure. Altogether it looks like, it smells like, it sounds like $100 billion multiplied many times more.''

 

According to a recent report from the Ponemon Institute (News - Alert) entitled "2013 Cost of Cyber Crime Study: United States," America's cyber crime costs have increased 26 percent over 2012 levels. The average US company experiences 122 attacks per week, two of which are successful.

Ponemon also found that the most widespread attacks are denial-of-service (DoS) attacks and other Web-based attacks. Additionally, Ponemon found that many attacks come from inside these companies.

Kaspersky suggested that many nation-states are recruiting "cyber mercenaries." These hackers, who have experience stealing money online from banks, are being recruited for espionage and sabotage projects. These could include attacks on factories, hospitals, power plants and transport.

To see the future of cyber crime, Kaspersky suggested watching the 2007 film "Die Hard 4." In this movie, Bruce Willis saves the world from cyber criminals attempting to sabotage US transportation systems, power stations and the stock market.

"This production was made in 2007 and although half of the movie is not true, it is not complete Hollywood fantasy," said Kaspersky. "The cyber bit is not fantasy any more because it's reality now."




Edited by Ryan Sartor
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