If you spend a lot of time reading the Fix My PC Free blog, then you’ve probably stumbled upon quite a few different articles about viruses, malware, and antivirus software. We all know that cybercrime costs the industry a lot of money per year, but we didn’t know approximately how much money cybercrime cost until the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) performed some detailed research into the industry.
In that study, entitled “The Economic Impact of Cybercrime and Cyber Espionage”, CSIS revealed that cybercrime costs the global economy somewhere between $70 billion and $400 billion per year. In the U.S. economy alone, that impact leads to 500,000 displaced jobs per year.
However, as you can imagine with such an ambitious study, coming up with specific numbers can be a near-impossible task. That’s why the figure has such a wide range.
To give that number some context, consider that the total value of the global economy is $70 trillion. Just for comparison, consider the following statistics:
-In the United States, car crashes cost the economy between $99 billion and $168 billion per year
-Illegal drug trafficking costs the global industry $600 billion per year
-Cybercrime did not exist 15 years ago
–Russian speaking counties account for approximately one third of the world’s cybercrime losses
-Cybercrime was estimated to be a $12.5 billion industry in 2011

Cybercrime also generates economic benefits

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. While car crashes cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars per year, they also generate billions of dollars per year in new car sales and repairs.
Similarly, cybercrime has created an entirely new – and opposing – industry. Every antivirus software sale, PC repair bill, and tech support staff hired is an economic benefit created, in large part, due to cybercrime.
Should we be worried about cybercrime? Yes. But should we drop everything and devote all resources to solving cybercrime right now? Probably not.