Economics of Cybercrime Series

Make no mistake: cybercrime has become big business. Forbes reported that cybercrime costs were projected to reach $2 trillion by 2019. To achieve this level of growth, cybercrime is now organized like big business, complete with a supply chain, middlemen, and sales and distribution channels. This is good and bad news for your organization. The bad news is that there are powerful forces working to steal your data. The good news is that cyber criminals now think in business terms, and you already know how to compete in business. Once you understand the economics of cybercrime, you can reduce your risks from cyber attacks by making your organization an unprofitable target.

This series helps reduce your risks from cyber attacks by making your organization an unprofitable target.

Series Overview

Cybercrime is big business now: Avoid becoming a victim
This article explains how cybercrime has evolved into a sophisticated global business ecosystem, detailing its supply chains, tools, and monetization models, and shows organizations how understanding these economics can help them reduce risk by becoming unprofitable targets.
View article

To prevent cyber thieves, think like them
This article explores how cybercriminals choose targets and tactics based on ROI, urging organizations to think like attackers to identify high‑value data, anticipate criminal strategies, and strengthen defenses accordingly.
View article

Using ROI to defeat cybercrime
This article describes how organizations can apply business principles—specifically reducing attackers’ return on investment—to discourage cybercriminals, using industry‑specific attack patterns and defensive strategies to make their systems too costly or time‑consuming to breach.
View article