$10 Trillion: How Cybercrime Became the World’s Third-Largest Economy

Cybersecurity Ventures estimates that global cybercrime losses will reach $10.5 trillion in 2026, equivalent to nearly $333,000 every second, highlighting the rapidly expanding economic impact of digital threats.

Cybercrime has become a major source of financial losses, with attacks disrupting critical industries worldwide. Business downtime now accounts for more than 60% of the total losses companies suffer following cyber incidents.

The global cybersecurity market is expected to surpass $300 billion in 2026, while organizations are projected to spend more than $240 billion on information security, reflecting annual growth of over 12.5%.

Government Contracts Rise

Since the outbreak of the war in late February, major U.S. cybersecurity companies, including Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike, and Fortinet, have seen a sharp increase in federal contracts.

The total value of these contracts reached approximately $3.8 billion during the first half of 2026, a 42% increase compared with the same period in 2025, supporting efforts to strengthen the protection of critical infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Israel’s National Cyber Directorate reported around 4,800 Iranian cyberattacks in June, nearly three times the number recorded in the same month last year.

According to the report, a joint U.S.-Israeli cyber operation disrupted Iranian military sensor networks and command systems at the beginning of the current conflict. Iranian authorities subsequently reduced internet connectivity by 96% and isolated the country digitally for 47 consecutive days.

Cyberattacks remain a major security threat to governments, businesses, and individuals, targeting sensitive financial, medical, military, and security data while disrupting critical services. Cybersecurity focuses on protecting five key areas: critical infrastructure, network security, cloud security, Internet of Things (IoT) security, and application security.