Cyber crime costs UK $44 billion a year

British government estimates say cyber crime costs Britain more than 27 billion pounds ($44 billion) a year. A report by the Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance on Thursday says that businesses bear the brunt of the cost of cyber crimes, such as attacks on computer systems, industrial espionage and theft of company secrets.
The report says businesses account for 21 billion pounds of the total loss, the government for 2.2 billion pounds and private citizens for 3.1 billion pounds. Minister for State Security Pauline Neville-Jones says ensuring cyber security is a matter of national security and commercial priority, and government and private sector need to work together to strengthen current levels of resilience.