Companies everywhere are increasingly vulnerable to cybercrime, but U.S. companies appear to be even more threatened than most, says a new report.
According to PricewaterhouseCooper's 2014 Global Economic Crime Survey, U.S. businesses were hit harder financially by cybercrime relative to other countries in recent years
Seven percent of U.S. organizations lost $1 million or more, compared with 3 percent of global organizations, according to PwC. And 19 percent of U.S. organizations lost between $50,000 and $1 million, compared with just 8 percent of global respondents. The report, which was released Wednesday, measures damages from 2011 to 2013.
This growing cost of cyberattacks has spurred lawmakers' interest in the issue, said Tom Ridge, CEO of Ridge Global and former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, at a panel discussion hosted by PwC in New York on Wednesday. While no legislation has been passed, it's likely things are moving in that direction, he said.
Last week, the Commerce Department issued a set of "voluntary" guidelines for banks and other companies that support critical infrastructure in an effort to get organizations to increase their security measures. These guidelines probably won't be voluntary for long, Ridge said.