Cyber terrorism is a highly critical global concern. Cybercrimes are increasing both in type and frequency. As the internet continues to evolve and expand, the nature of cyber risk is fundamentally evolving. By 2018, the world had experienced a 50% increase in cyber-attacks compared to the level experienced in 2015. In a report written February 2018, the President’s Council of Economic Advisors concluded that the cost of malicious cyber activity imposed upon the US economy was between $57 billion and $109 billion in 2016. (“The Cost of Malicious Cyber Activity to the U.S. Economy” February 2018)

Cyber criminals have started to target industrial and commercial systems as well in new and ever increasingly devastating ways. Currently much of the world’s infrastructure and large industries have become targets of this “cybercrime spree.” Many industrial and commercial systems have become vulnerable to attacks via weaknesses in the different layers of these systems from data collection, validation, and communication to monitoring, distribution, and control systems. The challenge is not only that digital devices can be attacked, but that analog infrastructure, such as power grids can also be attacked, btu this risk is not isolated to power grids.

The recent data breach suffered by Equifax is only one of many recent noteworthy data breaches suffered by U.S. corporations and illustrates the devastating effects felt not only by Equifax but by all of those whose personal information resided within the Equifax servers. While the U.S. Department of Justice was able to successfully identify the four Chinese military members responsible for the breach, the damage to Equifax was done and they ultimately settled a class action lawsuit resulting from the breach for $700 million.

Even the NSA has purportedly indulged in numerous illegal, by their own rules, searches and seizures of private data from emails, cell phones and other private communications.

The range of cybercrime attack targets is expanding rapidly as the Internet, IoT devices and related applications continue to advance. Moving in lockstep to the aforementioned issues, cyber-attack technology is evolving in sophistication, scope and complexity and in ways more potentially devastating with respect to industrial control systems (e.g. Kiev 2015).

Potential Analog Guard™ customers include the government, military, commercial industry, and infrastructure control and data communications companies (e.g. power distribution, police, transportation companies, hospitals, media companies, manufacturers) – all keenly interested in protecting their control/communication systems. The global cyber-security market is expected to reach USD 241.1 billion by 2025 with an 11% CAGR (other projections predict a 12-15% CAGR).

The global cyber-security products and services market is expected to experience 12-15% year-to-year growth. Market targets include National, Federal, State and Provincial infrastructure companies, electrical companies, police, transportation companies, hospitals, media companies, SCADA and PLC manufacturers, etc. All have a crucial vested interest in protecting their respective system data, of which a significant part is analog. As with any new or disruptive technology, recognition and acceptance will gain momentum over time.

The range of cybercrime attack targets is expanding exponentially. As the internet and related applications evolve, cyber-attack strategies are simultaneously evolving in terms of their sophistication and complexity. Consider that the hidden Dark Web (sites inaccessible by search engines) is 5,000 times larger than the Surface Web (sites accessible by search engines).

Signal Advance plans to access multiple markets with its Analog Guard™ product, catering to a variety of user segments (with some overlap between groups). Signal Advance measures each market segment as a function of global exposure to cybercrime and plans to monetize some of these segments by offering consulting-based products as a means of reaching markets otherwise not accessible. This diversity in format will enable Signal Advance to generate revenue from a wider consumer base in broad geographic markets. Signal Advance uses historic figures and estimates currently available to size its markets and to assess the cyber-crime cost by industry.