Cybercrime is expected to cost the global economy more than $1 trillion this year, up more than 50% since 2018, according to a research report.

Axar.az reports citing Defence.az the report by McAfee Corp. with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) concluded that the cost of online criminal activity is more than one percent of global economic output, and also had significant non-monetary impacts.

The researchers noted a surge in a range of attacks including ransomware, phishing, business email takeovers, spyware and cryptocurrency theft.

Some of the increase can be attributed to weaker security with more people working remotely outside their workplace.

"The severity and frequency of cyberattacks on businesses continues to rise as techniques evolve, new technologies broaden the threat surface, and the nature of work expands into home and remote environments," said Steve Grobman, chief technical officer at McAfee.

"While industry and government are aware of the financial and national security implications of cyberattacks, unplanned downtime, the cost of investigating breaches and disruption to productivity represent less appreciated high impact costs."

The report was based on a survey of 1,500 technology professionals in government and business in the U.S., Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Japan and Australia.