As organizations go digital, so does crime. Today, cybercrime is a massive business in its own right, and criminals everywhere are clamoring to get a piece of the action as companies and consumers invest trillions to stake their claim in the digital universe.
That’s why the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) “Global Risks Report 2020” states that cybercrime will be the second most-concerning risk for global commerce over the next decade until 2030. It’s also the seventh most-likely risk to occur, and eighth most impactful. And the stakes have never been higher. Revenue, profits, and the brand reputations of enterprises are on the line; mission-critical infrastructure is being exposed to threats and different web security vulnerabilities; and nation-states are engaging in cyber warfare and cyber espionage with each other.
Putting things into perspective: Walmart, which racks up America’s greatest firm earnings, generated a mind-blowing $514 billion in revenue last year. Yet cybercrime earns 12 times that. Both sell a huge variety of products and services. In fact, in terms of earnings, cybercrime puts even Tesla, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and Walmart to shame. Their combined annual revenue totals “just” $1.28 trillion.