Internet growth matched by rise in cybercrime, OECD says

The Internet has become a “general purpose technology” in the global economy and an increasingly important driver of growth, according to a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

But the report, released Thursday at the Budapest Conference on Cyberspace, also warns that this rise in economic importance is being matched by growth in cybercrime. The OECD, a Paris-based economic research group with 34 member countries including Canada, said its newest publication — titled Internet Economy Outlook — reflects the enormous technological advances in the sector and its impact on overall economic growth.

“The economies in the OECD have one word on their minds and that is ‘crisis,’ ” said Taylor Reynolds, OECD’s senior policy analyst on the Internet economy. “But if we talk about the Internet and the crisis, one of the responses we might get is ‘what crisis?’ ”

Companies focused on information and communication technologies (ICT) “are actually one of the few bright points in the economy, and I think that’s something policy-makers are beginning to notice,” he said, noting the “increasing sophistication of cyber security threats.”