Counting the Costs of Cybercrime in Australia in 2021

This presentation provides an estimate of the cost of cybercrime in Australia in 2021. It focuses on ‘pure’ cybercrimes that involve unauthorised access to networks (hacking), modification of data and impairment of systems and describes the economic impact on individuals, small, medium and large businesses and government entities. It draws on recent research by the Australian Institute of Criminology and the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s Annual Cyber Threat Report for 2020–21 to estimate the direct and indirect costs affecting the Australian economy. Although a global estimate of the cost is given, more research is needed to improve the level of information currently available and to permit an assessment to be made of how the cost of cybercrime is changing over time.