4 minBusiness
Cybercrime Losses Now Rival Third-Largest Economy, Mastercard Executive Warns
Cybercrime losses in 2024 were equivalent to the world's third-largest economy by GDP, and the cost is projected to rise sharply. A Mastercard executive argues that cybersecurity is now an economic priority for governments, companies and small businesses alike.
Cybercrime has grown into an economic force of its own. Losses from cybercrime in 2024 were equivalent to the third-largest economy in the world measured by GDP, behind only the United States and China, and the damage is projected to reach $15.6 trillion by 2029. In a commentary published by Time, a senior voice from the payments sector argues that cybersecurity should no longer be treated as a concern only for the IT department, but as a shared economic priority for government leaders, chief executives and individual citizens.
The argument rests on how deeply the digital economy now runs through everyday life. A locally owned coffee roaster in Colombia can sell to customers in Germany and Japan and accept payments in euros, yen and pesos. A daughter in Connecticut can send money to her parents in Morocco and see it arrive in seconds. The same connections that make such transactions possible also create shared vulnerabilities, which hackers, fraudsters and scammers are quick to exploit. The author describes this as a revolution in opportunity that has also introduced new risks.
Artificial intelligence is raising the stakes on both sides of the equation. Criminals are using AI to produce more convincing scams and to scale their attacks. Defenders are using the same technology to detect unusual activity faster, identify weaknesses in systems and prevent fraud before it occurs. The commentary also points to the growth of agentic commerce, in which software agents carry out a growing share of business transactions. That trend, the author says, requires additional layers of verification to ensure that agents act only within the permissions they have been given.
Small businesses are presented as the most exposed group. They drive 70 percent of employment worldwide and account for half of global GDP, yet they are often the least equipped to withstand a cyberattack. The damage from an attack rarely stops with the targeted company, the commentary notes, but reaches employees, suppliers, customers and the communities that depend on them. Citing Mastercard research, the piece says only 37 percent of small business owners currently use cybersecurity tools, while 89 percent say they want to adopt more digital tools.
No single organization can secure the digital economy alone, the commentary argues. Banks, technology companies, platforms, governments and industry groups each bring different strengths, from sharing intelligence and setting standards to building more secure products and helping businesses act early. The piece cites the Alliance for Critical Infrastructure and the Cyber Readiness Institute as examples of groups working to strengthen that cooperation and close gaps.
The author frames investment in cybersecurity not as charity but as an economic opportunity. When strong protections are easier to obtain, more entrepreneurs can take part in the digital economy, sell across borders and adopt new technologies with confidence. Underinvestment, or limiting who benefits from protection, would in the author's view stunt future growth and innovation. The commentary concludes that success should be measured not by how well the best-resourced institutions protect themselves, but by how effectively the wider ecosystem protects every participant.
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