'World to lose $6 trillion due to cyberattacks by 2020'

By Arife Yildiz Unal

ANKARA (AA) - Companies and households all around the world may incur losses worth $6 trillion due to cyberattacks by 2020, said head of Turkey’s Mobile Service Provider Businessmen's Association (MOBILSIAD).

The world lost $3 trillion due to cyberattacks in 2015 and these financial losses are predicted to reach $3.5 trillion last year, Prof. Kerem Alkin told Anadolu Agency.

He stressed that in 2020, the world's cyber-security expenses, which are currently around $100 billion, will also reach $1 trillion.

"In 2020, the number of smart devices will reach 200 billion and, people will use 300 billion passwords for everyday life," he said.

Between 2015 and 2017, an average of one company was exposed to cyberattack for ransom in every 40 seconds, he noted.

It is expected that this rate would reach every 14 seconds this year, he added.

"Illegal organizations turn towards cyberattacks due to high profit and low cost," he underlined.

Touching on ransomware issue, he said that last year illegal organizations earned $5 billion from ransom attacks across the world.

Ransomware -- a kind of malware -- locks or limits using computers' hard drive until paying a ransom to an illegal organization.

* Writing and contributions by Gokhan Ergocun