The Real Cost of Cyber Crime

Baroness Neville-Jones has likened cyber crime to terrorism “the more you know the more frightening it looks” she said, as figures are released, that estimate the cost of cyber crime to the UK economy.   

The Government has said that cyber crime costs the UK economy £27bn a year, but has also stated that the figures published are a mid-range estimate and the real cost could be much higher.

Martin Sutherland, chief executive of Detica, the consultancy which compiled the report with the Cabinet Office, said the perpetrators of cyber crime ranged from "state-sponsored" criminals to organised crime gangs down to "spotty teenagers sitting in their bedrooms".

The report divides the costs as follows, £21bn of costs to businesses, £2.2bn to government and £3.1bn to citizens.  Together with the Prime Minister, David Cameron and the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, Baroness Neville-Jones met with the leaders of some of Britain’s biggest businesses this week, to encourage them to take the issue more seriously. 

Whatever the size of your organisation, however real you consider the threat, are you prepared for a cyber attack?

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