$1 trillion global loss from data theft

According to a study released by security technology firm McAfee Inc. , data theft and breaches from cybercrime may have cost businesses as much as $1 trillion globally in lost intellectual property and expenditures for repairing the damage last year.

McAfee made the projection based on responses to a survey of more than 800 chief information officers in the US, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, China, India, Brazil, and Dubai.

The respondents estimated that they lost data worth a total of $4.6 billion and spent about $600 million cleaning up after breaches.

The California-based company launched the survey after detecting a rapid acceleration of malicious software, last year.

According to McAfee Inc. - CEO David DeWalt, “This was a very insidious type of malware that was designed either to steal your data, steal your identity, steal your money, and in many cases the scale as well as the sophistication was very alarming”.

The survey of 800 companies in 8 countries showed that 80 percent of malware aimed to make a financial gain, in contrast to traditional viruses and worms which just had nuisance value.

Data lost accidentally or through theft can be expensive to replace and simultaneously, it can be damaging to a company's reputation or brand.

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