The global economy loses $445 billion per year from cyber crime, according to the Bangor Daily News. Damage to businesses from stealing intellectual property comes in at $160 billion in losses due to hacking.
The report released on Monday came from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. It states that cyber crime was a growing industry that damaged innovation, trade and competitiveness.
The study was sponsored by McAfee and it said the conservative estimate of losses comes in at $375 billion and the maximum estimate could hit $575 billion in losses.
“Cyber crime is a tax on innovation and slows the pace of global innovation by reducing the rate of return to innovators and investors,” Jim Lewis of CSIS said in a statement. “For developed countries, cyber crime has serious implications for employment.”
The study found that the largest economies in the world suffered the worst losses. The United States, Japan, China and Germany totaled $200 billion per year in losses.
There was $150 billion in losses tied to personal information, such as credit card data theft.
The report noted that some 40 million people in the United States have had their personal information stolen by hackers, which equates to 15 percent of the population. In Turkey, 54 million people were affected. Germany saw 16 million affected and China had more than 20 million affected.