Cybercrime costs firms $9m per year

Massachusetts: The Security for Business Innovation Council — an IT security council established by technology giant EMC — has urged companies to update their cybercrime combating skills.

The council has not offered a forecast of how much cybercrime could cost companies this year, but recent studies have not painted a positive picture.

A recent study by the Michigan-based Ponemon Institute — which conducts independent research on privacy, data protection and information security policy — found instances of cyber attacks on US businesses increased by over 40% last year, with companies being hit with an average of two attacks per week.