Devise a plan to compute the cost of computer crime.

A plan to compute the cost of computer crime involves quantifying both direct and indirect financial and operational impacts. This requires a systematic assessment of various loss categories:

• Direct Financial Losses: This includes the immediate monetary impact.
  • Damage to and destruction of data, software, and hardware, including the cost of repair and replacement.
  • Theft of funds, intellectual property, or other valuable information.
  • Disruption of business operations and lost productivity due to system downtime.
  • Costs associated with incident response, such as forensic investigations, legal fees, public relations management, and the implementation of enhanced security measures.
  • Fines and penalties from regulatory bodies, or legal settlements.
• Indirect and Intangible Costs: These are longer-term and often harder to quantify.
  • Reputational damage and loss of customer trust, potentially leading to decreased sales or customer churn.
  • Loss of competitive advantage if proprietary information is stolen and used by competitors.
  • Decreased employee morale and productivity due to the incident's aftermath.
  • Increased insurance premiums for cyber insurance coverage.
  • Opportunity costs from resources diverted to address the crime instead of focusing on core business activities.

To implement this plan, an organization needs to meticulously track all expenses and lost revenues tied to a cyber incident. This comprehensive approach helps in understanding the full financial burden, as discussed in sources like Joseph Migga Kizza's Guide to Computer Network Security.