Malicious code attacks continued to have significant economic impact during 2001. The following figures show the Computer Economics analysis of the worldwide economic impact of malicious code attacks. Data is provided by year and for specific high profile incidents.

FIGURE 1  Analysis by Year            Year        Worldwide   Economic Impact     ($ U.S. Billions)             2001                    $13.2             2000                17.1             1999                12.1             1998                  6.1             1997                  3.3             1996                  1.8             1995                  0.5

The Computer Economics Cyber Attack Index shows the relative economic impact of specific incidents in relationship to the I Love You (Love Bug) outbreak which occurred in 2000 and to date remains the incident with the greatest economic impact. In Figure 2 the Love Bug attack has a rating of 10 and all other attacks are rated according to their relative economic impact.

FIGURE 2  Analysis by Incident Year Code Name      Worldwide Economic Impact         ($ U.S.) Cyber Attack Index 2001 Nimda       $635 Million   0.73 2001 Code Red(s)         2.62 Billion   2.99 2001 SirCam         1.15 Billion   1.31 2000 Love Bug         8.75 Billion 10.00 1999 Melissa         1.10 Billion   1.26 1999 Explorer         1.02 Billion   1.17