Cloud cybercrime has silver lining for shareholders

As an investor, did you know you can make money from cybercrime? Protecting clients from having their accounts hacked is a multibillion-pound worldwide business.

Sony's apparent failure to protect its clients may have inadvertently put some 100 million PlayStation network clients at risk afterwards computer hackers stole personal information belonging to these people. It is possible that Sony will face a lawsuit in the US for failing to take reasonable care to protect sensitive data belonging to its users. Sony's reputation has been put in jeopardy.

Recent government report

According to a recent government report, cybercrime costs the British economy about £27bn a year. About £21bn of the costs are borne by businesses; over £2bn by the Government and about £3bn by consumers.

Businesses cannot afford to ignore the threat of cybercrime, which is why internet security is big business. The services of companies just as AVG, Sophos and Barracuda Networks, which are privately owned, and Websense, which is quoted on Nasdaq, are in demand. Symantec, which is as well quoted on Nasdaq, provides security and storage systems to help businesses and consumers secure and manage their information. Symantec reported profits of $714m on sales of nearly $6bn last year.

The horizon is cloud computing

And on the horizon is cloud computing, described as the then stage in the internet's evolution. With cloud computing, individuals and businesses will be able to call on computing power infrastructure whenever and wherever they need it.

Businesses will need to take greater responsibility for protecting data in the cloud, which could mean even greater demand for cyber security. Regardless of how secure a lock may be today, it can always be picked tomorrow. The challenge for businesses is to stay one step ahead of tomorrow's lock pickers.