Internet crime costs global economy £2.3m a minute

The cost of internet-based cybercrime cost the global economy a total of £1.2tn in the past year, more than double the cost in 2017, according to the latest annual Evil Internet Minute report by cybersecurity firm RiskIQ.

The report is based on an analysis of malicious activity on the internet using proprietary global intelligence and third-party research.

The analysis also reveals that every minute, top companies pay £20 because of security breaches, hacks on cryptocurrency exchanges cost £1,550, and phishing attacks cost £14,200.

Every minute, 2.4 phishing sites went live and seven malicious redirectors, 0.32 blacklisted apps, and 0.21 Magecart attacks were detected.

Looking ahead, the report predicts that ransomware will cost the global economy £17,817 a minute in 2019.

The report coincides with another by security firm SonicWall that shows ransomware was up 15% in the first half of the year, with the UK worst-hit with a 195% increase compared with the same period a year ago.

“As the scale of the internet continues to proliferate, so does the threat landscape,” said Lou Manousos, CEO of RiskIQ.

“By compiling the vast numbers associated with cybercrime in the past year, we made the research more accessible by framing it in the context of an ‘internet minute’.

“We are entering our third year defining the sheer scale of attacks that take place across the internet using the latest third-party research and our own global threat intelligence so that businesses can better understand what they are up against on the open web.”