A goal of many of the hacks is simply to steal. While some hackers are in it for the fun of trying to penetrate sophisticated networks, most just want money. They are after Social Security numbers, bank account user names and passwords, email addresses, and credit or debit card PIN numbers. While every consumer may not suffer to a large extent from these attacks, there are long-term effects.

According to some experts, in a bid to catch up to the Western powers in military and aviation technology and to monitor U.S. troop movements, the Chinese government is stealing design information on aircraft and naval vessels from government and private industry and tapping into airline databases to get flight information. The military-industrial complex eventually passes on the costs of these thefts to taxpayers and travelers. In order to counteract the Chinese military in the future more weapons may have to be ordered up, diverting funds from more productive spending needs. Airlines might need to raise airfares to combat future network breaches.