AS IT IS 2015-11-07 Cybersecurity Market Growing with Increased Hacking

AS IT IS 2015-11-07 Cybersecurity Market Growing with Increased Hacking¹

The global cybersecurity market is expected to grow 121 percent in the next five years, says a new study.

The size of the industry will grow from $77 billion in 2015 to $170 billion in 2020, reports the Indian research firm Markets and Markets.

The cybersecurity market is rising at a very fast rate. The digital age has brought a variety of scams. The scams threaten individuals, companies, governments and organizations across the world.

Computer hackers⁴ steal credit card numbers, bank account information and tax records from individuals and corporations. Hackers steal credit card information online, then use it to conduct illegal activities. For example, a hacker³ can buy items online using a stolen name and information. 

The cost of these online attacks is huge. The Center for Strategic and International Studies is a policy research group in Washington, D.C. CSIS did a study in 2014 showing that cybercrime costs the global economy about $445 billion each year.

The study found that the world’s biggest economies suffer the greatest losses. The United States, China, Japan and Germany had losses of $200 billion in 2014. 

Many companies have had software hacked⁵ by cyber criminals. Software tells a computer how to act and what to do. Major companies like Target and General Motors have been hacked.

Individuals can be victims of cybercrime. Identity theft – when someone’s personal information is stolen online -- is one example. There are 15 million victims each year in the U.S. That’s roughly the population of Moscow.

Asher Kotz is a cybersecurity business expert in Fairfax County, Virginia. He said identity theft costs $50 billion each year.

There is also a risk from cyber terrorists. Ted² Koppel is a well-known American journalist. He wrote a new book called “Lights Out: A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath.” He writes that a major cyberattack on America’s power grid⁶ is “not only possible, but likely,” said the publisher’s website.

“The government has no plan” to protect against such an attack, he warned.   

Nonetheless, the U.S. government will spend $14 billion on cybersecurity in 2015, said Kotz. This represents 16 percent of the total amount spent globally every year on information technology.

Dan Woolley is general partner of MACH37, a cyber accelerator at the Center for Innovative⁷ Technology in Virginia. An accelerator helps new cybersecurity startups and provides funding.

He said threats on the Internet are constant. So new solutions must be devised continually. 

Hackers come from all over the world, reported Bloomberg. But the four countries with the most hackers are China, the U.S., Turkey and Russia. Bulgaria and Romania also are centers for computer hackers, reported Reuters. Communist countries invested heavily in technology talent in the 1980s, Reuters said.      

International organizations collaborate⁸ to fight cybercrime, said Kotz. Governments, universities and investors⁹ participate.

The European Union (EU) is focusing on this issue. The EU is a political and economic union of 28 countries.  

Guido Landheer is deputy vice¹⁰ minister for foreign trade at the Netherlands' Ministry¹¹ of Foreign Affairs. Next year, the Netherlands will serve as president of the EU.

“We are putting cybersecurity on the agenda and need cooperation internationally,” Landheer said at the conference.

Other organizations in Europe work with the U.S. on cybersecurity. This includes the Hague Security Delta¹² (HSD) in the Netherlands.

Ida Haisma is director of the HSD. Haisma said the Hague Security Delta is Europe’s largest security group with more than 200 partners. They include corporations, universities and non-profit organizations.

Some U.S. states are targeting cybersecurity as a growth area for their economies. Virginia is one of them.

Many government military agencies are located in Virginia. The region also has the largest presence of data centers in the U.S. and perhaps the planet, one expert said.

Words in This Story

cybersecurity – n. the state of being protected or safe from harm while using computer technology

digital – adj. using or characterized by computer technology

challenges – n. a difficult task or problem : something that is hard to do

foil – v. to prevent (something) from happening or being successful

hacker – n.  a person who secretly gets access to a computer system in order to get information, cause damage, etc. : a person who hacks¹³ into a computer system

scams – n. a dishonest way to make money by deceiving people

software – n.  the programs that run on a computer and perform certain functions

aftermath – n.  the period of time after a bad and usually destructive event 

networks – n. a system of computers and other devices (such as printers) that are connected to each other

devised – v. to invent or plan (something that is difficult or complicated)

accelerator – n. an organization that helps new companies grow faster

agenda – n. a list of things to be considered or done

dominant¹⁴ – adj. more important, powerful, or successful than most or all others

campus – n. the area and buildings around a university, college, school, etc.

1 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

2 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

3 hacker   

n.能盗用或偷改电脑中信息的人，电脑黑客

参考例句：

• The computer hacker wrote that he was from Russia.这个计算机黑客自称他来自俄罗斯。
• This site was attacked by a hacker last week.上周这个网站被黑客攻击了。

4 hackers   

n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客”

参考例句：

• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网

5 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。

6 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

7 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

8 collaborate   

vi.协作，合作；协调

参考例句：

• The work gets done more quickly when we collaborate.我们一旦合作，工作做起来就更快了。
• I would ask you to collaborate with us in this work.我们愿意请你们在这项工作中和我们合作。

9 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

10 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

11 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

12 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

13 hacks   

黑客

参考例句：

• But there are hacks who take advantage of people like Teddy. 但有些无赖会占类似泰迪的人的便宜。 来自电影对白
• I want those two hacks back here, right now. 我要那两个雇工回到这儿，现在就回。 来自互联网

14 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。