Any type of crime typically has costs associated with it. Cybercrime is no different than any other crime. A study recently released by HP along with the Ponemon Institute reveals that cybercrime may be more expensive than ever.
The study, referred to as the “2012 Cost of Cyber Crime Study” offered several statistics showing just how expensive cybercrime is. Among the more revealing statistics showed that:
- Cybercrime costs organizations in the U.S. nearly 9 million dollars in 2012 alone.
- Cybercrime rose nearly 1 million dollars from 2011 to 2012.
- There was an approximate 38% increase in cybercrime from 2010 to 2011.
- In 2013 there have been approximately 102 successfully cyber attacks every week, a 42% increase from last year.
Defining Successful Cyber Attacks
What makes cyber attacks successful? Successful attacks are those that get into a system and infect the system, preferably an enterprise system. According to HP and Ponemon, cyberattacks that do the most harm are those that get into a system and stick. They are the ones that infiltrate, stay, and then subsequently do a lot of damage to a system. Most of the time they are able to penetrate a firewall or other restrictive barrier which is usually in place to ward off such attacks. Once you get around the first layer of protection, it is hard to say just how much damage a criminal can do.
If an attack occurs against a major database particularly one associated with a big enterprise, the cost can be quite high. Costs do vary depending on the type of industry that falls victim to the crime. For example, crimes against the government or large corporations will costs thousands of dollars compared with crimes against small companies. Many cybercrimes are targeted against industries that have higher costs automatically. These may include retail firms, consumer products, and hospitality firms.
Businesses apart from those in the U.S. that are likely to suffer from increasing cyber attacks include those in the U.K. Germany, Japan and even businesses in Australia. In Germany and the U.S. the survey reported most of the costs are associated with prevention, whereas in other countries costs are associated with recovery from cyberattacks.
Whether from prevention or recovery, the cost associated with attacks is still high. There was also evidence showing that putting into place intelligence systems to detect cybercrime and deter cybercrime can significantly lower the costs associated with cybercriminals.
Proxy Servers Detect Cybercrime
Many people are not aware how simple it is to protect their systems and networks from cybercrime. Some people feel they are stuck with the ideology of being a victim to cyber criminals. This simply is not the case. Proxy servers provide a safe and effective means of providing secure surfing and transfer of files, while also allowing network administrators to block threatening traffic from ever entering the network. Cheap proxy can be set up to automatically scan, review, and delete suspicious emails, traffic, and other material that attempts to access a personal or business network. Businesses and corporations can also use a proxy server to enable them to protect their IP address when conducting business transactions or research on the web, so they do not attract attention. Consider the use of a proxy server to protect your identity on the web.
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