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Surprising Science

Who Benefits from Hacking?

“Malicious activities like virus writing and hacking cost businesses globally more than a trillion dollars per year.” Al Jazeera asks who benefits from such crimes at a hacking conference in Hungary.

“Malicious computer use such as virus writing and hacking cost businesses globally more than $1 trillion each year, according to a study from computer security company McAfee. The projection is based on responses to a survey of more than 800 chief information officers of companies around the world. The respondents estimated that in 2008 they lost data worth a total of $4.6bn and spent about $600 million cleaning up after breaches, McAfee said. The recent recession is only increasing the security risk for corporations, respondents said, with 42 per cent reporting that displaced workers were the biggest threat to sensitive information on the network.”


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