In the early days of the Internet boom , some thought we would enter an era where there would be one integrated world economy with no borders , where we would share similar democratic values , and where governments would be less important and civil society could pick up many governmental tasks . But that turned out not to be the case . Many countries do n't share our values . There are conflicts , and the Internet has become a good place for these conflicts to play out . One outcome is espionage , whether it is the National Security Agency listening to foreign leaders or China 's People 's Liberation Army stealing trade secrets . Another outcome is cybercrime . It seems every month there is a story about a giant retailer being hacked and the personal data of hundreds of thousands of people being stolen by faceless cybercriminals . The last big story was Target . This week it 's eBay , where hackers stole electronic credentials from eBay employees and used the credentials to access and steal customers ' data . According to one estimate , more than 800 million records were stolen in 2013 . Fortunately , that does n't actually mean all 800 million people suffered financial loss . Only a small fraction of people who have their data taken become victims of fraud or theft , because it is hard for criminals to `` monetize '' data -- to turn your personal information into cash . But the cleanup costs for the victimized company can be gigantic . After Target 's hack , its CEO was fired for not doing enough . Cybercrime is a growth industry and online security breaches are not going to stop any time soon . The Internet was designed to ensure easy , reliable connectivity and in this it has been an immense success . When the Internet was commercialized in the 1990s , the U.S. government thought it was better to immediately start using an imperfect technology and get the economic benefits rather than wait for a completely safe Internet . That was the right decision . The Internet has drastically changed all facets of our lives , including the way we communicate and do business . It has brought us immense economic benefits . But the downside is that the Internet is not a secure place . Cybersecurity would not be as big a problem as it is today if the pioneers had paid more attention to security issues . For example , encryption ( software that scrambles your data into unintelligible patterns ) was decontrolled in 1999 . But many encryption products turned out to be hard to use , slowing computers and adding cumbersome steps to simple transactions . Encryption is still not widely used . Many companies do n't encrypt the data of their customers and rely on passwords , which are very easy to hack for many transactions . Cybercrime is an issue that needs more attention . According to one European intelligence service , there are 20 to 30 criminal gangs in the former Soviet Union that have hacking skills as good as most nations . There are many other groups with lesser skills . These criminals are nimble and inventive , and there are thriving cybercrime black markets where you can buy the latest hacking tools . This means there are highly skilled criminals who live in safe havens but can use the Internet to commit crimes that can earn millions of dollars , for which they will never be arrested or tried . Why would they stop ? While there is good cooperation among Western countries against cybercrime , Russia has little interest in stopping these groups . Eventually , the Internet will become less risky . There are basic things that companies can do to make sure their networks are more secure -- at least from all but the high-end criminals and big intelligence agencies . Many companies are now taking cybersecurity seriously in a way different from even a year or two ago . The United States can work with other governments to improve law enforcement cooperation and to close down criminal networks . The question is whether there will be enough progress before hackers get better at using what they steal . Right now , cybercriminals can steal millions of records but only be able to `` monetize '' a few thousand of them . If cybercriminals get better at monetizing the personal data they steal , there will be a spike in losses . And if countries like China continues to hack U.S. businesses to steal trade secrets and make competing products , American companies will lose sales and jobs . The eBay hack reminds us that cybercrime is risk free , hard to stop , and big money for hackers . Even the best defenses may have holes in them . The least we can do is to try to put in the safeguards .
Hackers take electronic info from eBay stores to steal customers ' data . James Lewis : Cybercrime is a growth industry and breaches wo n't pay . He says it is not free , hard to find , and big money for hackers . Lewis : The least that companies can do is to invest in more safeguards .