The global cost of cybercrime rose to unprecedented levels in 2017, according to recent research.

In its new report titled “Economic Impact of Cybercrime — No Slowing Down,” McAfee and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) revealed that cybercrime cost the world between $445 and $608 billion in 2017. That is $100 billion more than the minimum worldwide cost estimated for 2014.

What’s Driving Up the Global Cost of Cybercrime?

The report’s authors attributed this increase to five trends, most notably the rise of ransomware. The FBI noted that victims of ransomware paid $209 million to recover stolen files in the first quarter of 2016, a significant increase over the $24 million in ransom payments made throughout the year prior, SC Magazine reported.

In addition, 70 new cryptomalware strains emerged over the course of the year, more than double the number of ransomware samples that emerged between 2013 and 2015. The threat of ransomware arguably reached its peak in Q1 2017 with the WannaCry outbreak before declining in the next six months as cryptominers surged in popularity among computer criminals.

Cybercrime-as-a-service, a greater reliance on anonymization services such as Tor, the rise of state-sponsored theft, and the increasingly popularity of both identity theft and intellectual property theft also drove up the cost of cybercrime in 2017, according to the report.

Reducing the Cost of Cybercrime

Responding to these trends, McAfee chief scientist Raj Samani noted that organizations can protect themselves against cybercriminals by improving their internal communication channels.

“Businesses often struggle to remain vigilant against threats because they have too many tools operating in silo at once — and failing to communicate with each other,” he said, as quoted by Infosecurity Magazine. “By making sure that tools can work together and removing siloed security teams, organizations can find the right combination of people, process and technology to effectively protect data, detect threats and, when targeted, rapidly correct systems.”

Companies should implement security measures, as well as share threat intelligence with other organizations and law enforcement, to reduce the global cost of cybercrime.

More from

Increasingly Sophisticated Cyberattacks Target Healthcare

4 min read - It’s rare to see 100% agreement on a survey. But Porter Research found consensus from business leaders across the provider, payer and pharmaceutical/life sciences industries. Every single person agreed that “growing hacker sophistication” is the primary driver behind the increase in ransomware attacks. In response to the findings, the American Hospital Association told Porter Research, “Not only are cyber criminals more organized than they were in the past, but they are often more skilled and sophisticated.” Although not unanimous, the…

4 min read

Ransomware Renaissance 2023: The Definitive Guide to Stay Safer

2 min read - Ransomware is experiencing a renaissance in 2023, with some cybersecurity firms reporting over 400 attacks in the month of March alone. And it shouldn’t be a surprise: the 2023 X-Force Threat Intelligence Index found backdoor deployments — malware providing remote access — as the top attacker action in 2022, and aptly predicted 2022’s backdoor failures would become 2023’s ransomware crisis. Compounding the problem is the industrialization of the cybercrime ecosystem, enabling adversaries to complete more attacks, faster. Over the last…

2 min read

Machine Learning Applications in the Cybersecurity Space

3 min read - Machine learning is one of the hottest areas in data science. This subset of artificial intelligence allows a system to learn from data and make accurate predictions, identify anomalies or make recommendations using different techniques. Machine learning techniques extract information from vast amounts of data and transform it into valuable business knowledge. While most industries use these techniques, they are especially prominent in the finance, marketing, healthcare, retail and cybersecurity sectors. Machine learning can also address new cyber threats. There…

3 min read

HHS Releases Hospital Cyber Resiliency Landscape Analysis

4 min read - On April 17, 2023, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 405(d) Program announced the release of its Hospital Cyber Resiliency Initiative Landscape Analysis. This landmark analysis reports on domestic hospitals’ current state of cybersecurity preparedness. The scope of the HHS study was limited to activities that protect access to patient care and safety and reduce the negative impact of cyber threats on clinical operations. Breaches of sensitive data were considered only if the breach had a direct…

4 min read