ARCH - Assessing Risks and Cybercrime Harms

Illustration generated using ChatGPT (OpenAI) and adapted for the ARCH project

Project

Understanding the Full Impact of Cybercrime

Cybercrime leaves lasting psychological and social consequences that often remain invisible. Victims may experience stress, anxiety, loss of trust, social isolation, and long-term impacts on well-being, while organizations and societies face reputational damage, reduced confidence, and broader societal disruption. Despite their importance, these harms are rarely captured in existing assessments, which primarily focus on financial losses. As part of the ARCH consortium, researchers at Freie Universität Berlin investigate these hidden psychological and societal impacts, as well as demographic and developmental differences in cybercrime harms, and contribute to the development of the first comprehensive framework for assessing the full spectrum of cybercrime harms.

ARCH brings together international researchers and partners to deliver a multidimensional costs-of-harms model that captures the direct, indirect, and cascading impacts of cybercrime. Combining interdisciplinary expertise with multiple data sources, the project provides a scientific foundation for understanding the true consequences of cybercrime and for informing prevention, cybersecurity policy, and victim-centered responses.

Duration

2026 -2029

Financing

Cyberagentur: Agentur für Innovation in der Cybersicherheit GmbH finances visionary research to strengthen Germany's technological sovereignty and resilience in cybersecurity.