Cyber Crime Now Costing Economy $446 Billion A Year

The global economy, still struggling to fully recover from the economic crises of the last decade, is being short-shrifted by about $445 billion every year due to cyber crime and the theft of intellectual property, the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a report. The losses from IP theft alone top $160 billion, according to the study, sponsored by security software firm McAfee. Cyber crime is taking a serious toll on employment in developed countries, with losses topping $200 billion for the U.S., China, Japan and Germany.