Today, the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) released a report detailing the economic costs of malicious cyber activity on the U.S. economy. Please see below for the executive summary and read the full report here.

This report examines the substantial economic costs that malicious cyber activity imposes on the U.S. economy. Cyber threats are ever-evolving and may come from sophisticated adversaries. Due to common vulnerabilities, instances of security breaches occur across firms and in patterns that are difficult to anticipate. Importantly, cyberattacks and cyber theft impose externalities that may lead to rational underinvestment in cybersecurity by the private sector. Firms in critical infrastructure sectors may generate especially large negative spillover effects into the wider economy. Successful protection against cyber threats requires accurate data and cooperation across firms and between private and public sectors.

Overall: