Origins of Global Hacks: America And China are Leader

 Where do hackers come from? | Global tracking ranks hacks by country of origin

Computer hacks originating in the UK cost the global economy over $2 billion in 2011 according to latest research from FTSE listed IT assurance company, NCC Group.
The research, which tracks the country of origin of hacks, observed over 23 million hacks attempted in the UK in the second half of 2011. This figure places the UK at 15th in the global league table.

The US and China are positioned 1st and 2nd, respectively. Together these two countries are responsible for nearly 40% of the world’s hack attempts, costing the global economy over $44 billion each year.
Interestingly, five of the top 10 countries are located in Western Europe, with Italy, the Netherlands, France, Denmark and Germany accounting for nearly 200 million attempted hacks, costing the global economy an estimated $16 billion.
Rob Cotton, NCC Group’s chief executive, comments: “Reading the papers each day, it’s easy to think of hacking as something that happens to us from afar; that we’re victims of foreign criminal gangs in developing countries. Yet hackers can be anywhere in the world, as our research illustrates, including on our own doorstep.
“Fighting this global threat will only work with global collaboration. We hear lots about governments wanting to work together and there’s a strong financial motivation to find this long-suggested global solution but progress is painfully slow.
“I’m certain that when we look at these figures again the number of hacks and the cost to the global economy will have increased. I’m less certain that progress will have been made in the global battle against these hackers.

The research is based on intrusion detection logs monitored by DSHield, a cooperative network security community based in the US. Stats do not necessarily indicate successful access, just unauthorised attempts and attacks can be routed through IP addresses in different countries.