The Economic Impact of Cyber Attacks: A Summary of Recent Research
Recent research highlights the significant and varied economic consequences of cyber attacks across multiple sectors. Estimates demonstrate that the financial impact can range from relatively minor disruptions to billions of pounds in losses, depending on the target and severity of the incident.
Healthcare: Cyber attacks on major hospitals are estimated to cost £11.14 million per incident, with a projected frequency of three occurrences annually.19 Attacks on GP practices, while individually less costly at £0.02 million,are estimated to occur much more frequently – thirty-seven times per year.20
Creative Industries & Arts: The economic fallout from cyber attacks in this sector varies considerably. A one-day disruption to online ticketing services could cost between £0.6 million and £161 million, occurring roughly every 4 to 5 years.21 Similarly, a single day of lost access to online video streaming services is estimated to result in costs ranging from £2.8 million to £197 million,with an estimated frequency of once every eight years.22 disruptions to cultural institutions like museums and galleries, specifically eleven days of service interruption, are estimated at £0.27 million per incident, occurring approximately once every three years.23 Libraries face a lower individual cost of £0.02 million for eleven days of disruption, but a higher frequency of once every seven months.24
Real Estate & Renting: Cyber attacks impacting property transaction systems, resulting in a three-month loss of access, are estimated to cost between £0.14 million and £0.24 million,with a frequency of approximately once every seven months.25
manufacturing: Research is ongoing to develop methodologies for estimating consumer impacts within the manufacturing sector, notably concerning pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Rail Network: A hypothetical, systemic cyber attack on Great Britain’s rail network, assessed by KPMG as having a “low” likelihood, could result in a total economic cost of approximately £1.8 billion for a week of disruption. This estimate, based on a scenario developed in consultation with relevant departments, includes a direct financial cost to Network Rail of around £123 million, £281.3 million in passenger delay costs, and a potential impact on Gross Value Added (GVA) of up to £1.397 billion. The estimated GVA impact represents approximately 2.8% of the UK’s total GDP per week and 0.05% of annual GDP. KPMG emphasizes that this modelling is assumption-driven and the outputs should be considered indicative only.
Vital Note: The KPMG report stresses that the rail network scenario is hypothetical and should not be interpreted as a prediction of future events. The study relies on existing literature, public data sources, and data provided by the Department for Transport and Network Rail.
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