What Is the Cost of a Computer Virus?

Excuse me, how much did you last virus cost?

Depending upon whose estimate you rely, the cost of the LoveLetter worm is placed somewhere between tens of millions to billions of dollars in damage. Whichever is correct, the estimates are staggering. Just how are such costs calculated? Can they be substantiated? What costs might you incur?

Typically, calculations are based on what are known as “soft costs” -- in other words, intangibles such as loss of opportunity combined with the more realistic loss of productivity or lost person hours. Let’s take a look at each of these in turn.

1) Loss of Opportunity

Hypothetical Company A makes widgets that they badly want to sell to Company B. Deals are on the table, ready to be signed. Unfortunately for Company A, there is a competitor, Company C, who also wants to sell to Company B. The most important factor to Company B is whether their widgets will be delivered on time; therefore the reliability of the competing companies will be the deciding factor. Company A has promised to email their final proposal by Monday at 4 p.m. At 2 p.m., a virus infiltrates their organization and all the mail servers are shutdown shortly thereafter. As luck would have it, Company A’s proposal is stuck in the queue and never leaves the company servers. As 4 p.m. comes and goes, Company B has only received one proposal – from Company C. Guess who gets the deal?

2) Loss of Productivity

A public relations firm, PR One, is heavily involved with technology publications and various industry analysts. They constantly correspond via email, setting tour schedules, sending press releases, and maintaining their valuable contacts. Struck by an email worm, PR One is not able to function for several hours as their mail servers have all been shut down. Telephoning contacts is not an option, as everyone in their industry is focused solely on this latest viral attack. Though no opportunities were lost, there were still several PR personnel sitting around, waiting. In other words, they were not productive.

3) Lost Person-Hours

Not quite the same as loss of productivity, lost person hours usually affect IT personnel. Doubly, if not triply, busy due to a viral outbreak, the fact is the work they should have been doing -– i.e. finalizing the E-Commerce backbone -– isn’t getting done. Every hour they spend putting out the latest malicious code emergency means pushing off the projects they should be working on. These hours can’t simply be recaptured, even with overtime, thus everyone’s schedule is affected.

How such costs are calculated, or whether they are completely accurate, is in some ways a moot point. Viruses can wreak financial havoc on companies, and that damage can only be properly assessed individually. A strong, well-established firm may have no difficulty but a smaller firm competing to succeed may not be able to withstand the change in deliverable schedules or the loss of opportunity. In a medical setting, or course, the costs simply cannot be calculated. One thing is certain, as insurance companies begin taking bolder steps into the arena of computer and data security coverage, costs will somehow become more measurable.

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