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

By Arife Yildiz Unal</p> <p>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).</p> <p>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. </p> <p>He stressed that in 2020, the world's cyber-security expenses, which are currently around $100 billion, will also reach $1 trillion.</p> <p>&quot;In 2020, the number of smart devices will reach 200 billion and, people will use 300 billion passwords for everyday life,&quot; he said.</p> <p>Between 2015 and 2017, an average of one company was exposed to cyberattack for ransom in every 40 seconds, he noted.</p> <p>It is expected that this rate would reach every 14 seconds this year, he added.</p> <p>&quot;Illegal organizations turn towards cyberattacks due to high profit and low cost,&quot; he underlined.</p> <p>Touching on ransomware issue, he said that last year illegal organizations earned $5 billion from ransom attacks across the world. </p> <p>Ransomware — a kind of malware — locks or limits using computers' hard drive until paying a ransom to an illegal organization.</p> <p>* Writing and contributions by Gokhan Ergocun