In the wake of the Census website hack, fund manager, BetaShares, has listed a cyber-security exchange traded fund (ETF) on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), to take advantage of companies that prevent such security attacks.
BetaShares Capital managing director, Alex Vynokur, said Target and JP Morgan, were just two other recent high profile victims of cybercrime.
“In the case of Target, it cost the chief executive officer (CEO) his job, and over 70 million customers had their personal details including credit card details comprised and published.”
But those companies were not alone, he said. Cybercrime cost the global economy $3 trillion per annum.
It was why BetaShares said the cyber security industry was set to rapidly grow from US$82 billion in 2016, to US$100 billion by 2019.
Cybercrime and security has evolved from being a possible theory, to becoming a priority for both Australian and international companies, Vynokur said.
“Whether it’s the government level, whether it’s the corporation level, or whether it’s the individuals. Companies like Symantec, for example who are providing anti-virus solutions. You’ve got companies like FireEye who are providing corporates and governments with significant intelligence and security measures to help them defend against cybercrime.”
The NASDAQ Cyber security index, which the BetaShares new ETF aimed to track, generated 60 per cent revenue growth per annum over the last three years, he said.
“[That growth] has in fact more than doubled the rate of growth or revenue of the S&P 500 IT technology sub sector and that sector itself is often looked at as one of the key growth sectors in the S&P500.”
Notwithstanding that, the companies in the sector were growing their revenue, while their share prices were also significantly growing as well, Vynokur said.
To see how BetaShares’ ETFs have performed, click here.
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