Say $6 Trillion Again … I DARE you: Examining the roots of a total BS Marketing Number

This article has been indexed from CyberCrime & Doing Time

Disclaimer: The principle of Academic Freedom has been the same for 80 years or so.  I do not speak officially for my employer.  That isn’t how Academic Freedom works.  This blog post represents my own thoughts and opinions.


How often have you heard the quote that the Cost of Cybercrime is $6 Trillion?

As I was doing some reading on Ransomware I came across this bolded quote yesterday: “Ransomware is set to cause $6 trillion in damages by 2021.”  

Wow.  Makes you want to run right out and buy cybersecurity products, doesn’t it?  Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt, the marketing department’s dream formula! You really can’t fault the marketing folks who wrote that though … every cybersecurity marketing department is jumping on the bandwagon.  And when dozens of journalists share the number blindly with no examination of the facts, how can they be blamed? 

Every time you see the preposterous number “$6 Trillion Dollars” with regards to cybercrime costs, even when mis-used, as above, the source will be traced to a Cybersecurity Ventures report. I did an analysis of that report back in October 2017 and wanted to walk you through it here, gentle reader, so that you would have a place to point people who quote the Six Trillion Dollar Charlatan.  Here is where things started for me, when I saw this report:The original $6 Trillion Charlatan

Whether I’m grading a student paper, or reviewing a journal article submission, my approach to facts is

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