More than 200 cyber security experts met Thursday at the Irving Convention Center for an all-day summit.
Chad Pinson, Managing Director of Stroz Friedberg, said cyber crimes are on the rise.
"Compared to this time last year, incidents are up 46 percent," he said. "And when I say incidents I mean breaches into private and public sector companies."
There are some big targets beyond just credit cards in a society that relies heavily on web security in a digital age.
"They certainly have tried to take the power grid before, they tried to affect our economic structure. They've tried to attack banking institutions and financial institutions," said Kevin Mellott, President of ERASE Enterprises.
Mellott said anyone who uses the internet can be a target, and these crimes are costly.
"There's a lot of estimates that are ranging from 20 to 30 billion dollars a year is being spent on cyber loss. Then there's all the money being spent to try to stop it from happening in the first place," he said.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
As more and more people live their lives online via smart phones and tablets, cyber security experts say more criminals are finding easy ways to crack into these devices.
"It's being mugged online, it's having somebody come into your most personal information, your bank account, your doctor's records," said Bill Wallace, Founder of Success North Dallas.
Wallace said Thursday's summit brought together the top minds from various sectors in the area to share the latest trends.
"Cyber security is probably the No. 1 threat as we go into the next few years against our government, against our businesses, against our families, and against our own person," he said.
