Cybercrimes cost businesses $600 bn globally: McAfee

New Delhi, Feb 22: Cybercrimes have cost businesses close to $600 billion globally — or 0.8 per cent of the global GDP — which is up from $445 billion reported three years back, a report said on Thursday.

The report by the global cybersecurity firm McAfee, prepared along with the Centre for Strategic and Intertiol Studies (CSIS), said that over the last three years, cybercrimils have quickly adopted new technologies to ease the process of engaging in cybercrimes. “Ransomware-as-a-Service Cloud providers efficiently scale attacks to target millions of systems, and attacks are automated to require minimal human involvement,” Steve Grobman, Chief Technology Officer for McAfee, said in a statement.

“Add to these factors cryptocurrencies that ease rapid monetisation, while minimising the risk of arrest, and you must conclude that the $600 billion cybercrime figure reflects the extent to which our technological accomplishments have transformed the crimil economy as dramatically as they have every other portion of our economy,” he added. The report, titled “Economic Impact of Cybercrime — No Slowing Down”, said that banks remain the favourite target for cybercrimils. Cybercrime losses are greater in richer countries; however, the countries with the greatest losses are mid-tier tions that are digitised but not yet fully capable in cybersecurity, the report noted.(IANS)