Information Leak Some cyber-criminals carry out attacks on companies to obtain the personal information of customers:

names

addresses

bank numbers

handphone numbers

personal identification numbers

For example, hackers obtained user information from 70 million Sony accounts in 2011. Such sensitive information can be used to open criminal bank accounts and commit crime via impersonation, among other possibilities.

Cyber-criminals sometimes obtain confidential company information (espionage), in order to spoil a company's reputation or for another company to take advantage.

Time could have been better spent

Reduction in productivity In response to cybercrime, most companies have in place security features such as personalised passwords and security tokens. Time is wasted getting through the layers of authentication before:

an account can be used

a file can be accessed

a change can be confirmed in the computer system

The time spent going through these security hurdles might have been better spent on real work.

The chart below represents the most impactful effects of cyber-attacks on companies.