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Cyber crime costs the global economy about $445 billion every year, with the damage to business from the theft of intellectual property exceeding the $160 billion loss to individuals from hacking, according to research published on Monday. The report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said cyber crime was a growth industry that damaged trade, competitiveness and innovation. Cyber crime is a tax on innovation and slows the pace of global innovation by reducing the rate of return to innovators and investors, Jim Lewis of CSIS said in a statement. For developed countries, cyber crime has serious implications for employment. The worlds biggest economies bore the brunt of the losses, the research found, with the toll on the United States, China, Japan and Germany reaching $200 billion a year in total.