The global telecom sector has lost $6 trillion to cybercrime in 2021 so far.

On Tuesday, the United Nations urged countries to be more proactive in preventing cybercrime, as millions of dollars are lost to the menace, according to a report by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on Tuesday.

The report estimated that the IT and telecom sector suffered up to $6 trillion in damage in 2021 so far.

The ITU urged countries to improve their cybersecurity to prevent unlawful intrusion into systems and data manipulation.

Measures to prevent cybercrime “are best in the U.S.,” the ITU said after an evaluation of questionnaires.

It ranked Saudi Arabia third, Russia fifth, and Turkey 11th in its assessment of countries’ precautions.

Meanwhile, the number of people using the internet worldwide has risen rapidly and expected to double by 2030, when 90 per cent of the world population will be online.

According to the ITU, 3.5 billion people have access to the internet, a number expected to reach 7.5 billion by 2030.

Only one billion people were online in 2007. Now, one billion people have gone online for the first time since 2015.

(dpa/NAN)