Don't be fooled by study's dramatically lower cyberthreat estimate, experts say

July 24, 2013

A recent study that greatly reduces an often-cited estimate on the economic impact of cybercrime and cyberespionage should not give companies a reason to spend less on security, experts say. The McAfee-sponsored report, released on Monday, found that Internet-based crime and spying cost the U.S. economy as much as $100 billion a year, not the $1 trillion originally estimated by the Intel-owned security vendor. The study was done in conjunction with the nonprofit Center for Strategic and International Studies. The analytical approach used in the latest findings is closer to reality than the previous methodology based on notoriously imprecise corporate surveys. McAfee acknowledges that the earlier figure, included in President Barack Obama’s 2009 cybersecurity speech, was inflated. ”There were some methodological challenges with the [original] study and we felt that the right thing to do was to work with the top think tank in the world focused on security and come up with a better study to set the record straight,” Tom Gann, vice president of government relations at McAfee, said on Tuesday. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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