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Cyber crime costs the UK economy £27bn per year

The overall cost of cyber crime to the UK economy is £27bn per year, a report revealed yesterday.

The Office of Cyber Security & Information Assurance revealed that the real impact of cyber crime could actually be in excess of this.

The hardest hit sectors are pharmaceuticals and biotech, electronics, IT and chemicals.

Industrial espionage has the second most impact at £7.6bn, followed by £2.2bn from extortion, £1.3bn from direct online theft and £1bn from the loss or theft of customer data.

Martin Sutherland, Managing Director at intelligence firm Detica, said: “As crime’s gone digital, this report estimates for the first time the real cost of cyber crime to the UK.

“By understanding that business bears the burden of over three-quarters of the £27bn cost of cyber crime, we are better placed to defend and protect assets crucial to every business sector in today’s interconnected marketplace.”

The report recommends that the UK needs a more comprehensive picture of cyber crime in order to tackle this issue and that UK businesses interact closely with HMG, sharing data and raising awareness of threats to their security.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .