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Cybersecurity Statistics
Numerous cybersecurity issues daily pose serious threats to businesses. Nowadays, it is also quite difficult to understand the risks even in theory. Often people simply have no idea what are the modern cyber risks. There is also quite widespread opinion of cyber threats like it was many years ago. However, modern cybersecurity is not limited with the firewalls, antiviruses and external hackers. The cybersecurity landscape is extremely complicated and evolves permanently. In order to understand the risks better it is vital to stay up to date on the latest trends, facts and statistics.
The cybersecurity landscape is constantly changing, but it is clear that cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated and they occur more frequently. Here is a summary of some of the most interesting and alarming cybersecurity statistics for 2022:
Annual global cost of cybercrime estimated to reach $10.5 trillion by 2025. Analysts at Cybersecurity Ventures predict that the costs associated with cybercrime will grow by 15% annually over the next five years. They reach this conclusion by evaluating historical financial data from cyberattacks and the future threat environment. Intellectual property theft, stolen money and data destruction are just some of the costs included in this forecast $10.5 trillion figure.
Find out how to prevent cybercrimes and internet threats.
Another issue that poses serious risks to cybersecurity is ransomware. Ransomware is a type of malware that infects a user's computer and restricts access to the device or its data. In order to get the data decryption key users are forced to pay a ransom (often in cryptocurrency, as it is difficult to track). Ransomware is one of the most dangerous types of information security threats because it allows cybercriminals to block access to computer files until a ransom is paid and it is also a very popular extortion technique. New technology allows hackers to bypass computer defenses and encrypt data in more sophisticated ways. Cybercriminals can hit a target hard and fast, demanding ever-higher ransom payments. In the past, an organization's antivirus software detected threats and prevented suspicious files from causing major damage. Today, IT professionals must worry about advanced, persistent threats that allow hackers to enter backdoors and remain undetected on networks for months. The statistics are quite alarming too. According to Sophos, 49% of respondents in retail, despite making backups, reported paying the ransom to get the data back. According to Cybersecurity Ventures, by the year 2031 global ransomware damage costs predicted to exceed $265 billion.
Phishing schemes have always been popular among hackers, for instance, according to Cobalt, in 2020 66% of businesses experienced some form of phishing. Phishing is the number one tactic hackers use to get the data they need to launch major attacks. When phishing is targeted at a specific individual or company, the method is known as spear phishing. These types of cyberattacks continue to grow in popularity.
Data breaches and data leaks are also extremely dangerous and, unfortunately, widely-spread information security threats. Recently, we have faced numerous data breach and data leak incidents. The result of such incidents is disclosure of some data – often, some sensitive or personal data. The data exposed enables intruders to perform targeted attacks on both enterprises and individuals. For instance, exposure of customers’ personal data enables fraudsters to implement precise social engineering attacks. It should be noted, that many organization tend to hide the fact of data breach or data leak occurrence, what makes it more difficult for organizations and users to get ready to a situation, when an attack takes place. However, even after being notified of a data breach, many users do not understand, what they should do. For instance, according to Varonis data, 64% of Americans don't know what to do next after being notified of a data breach. Few user understand clearly, how to check if the data is exposed, protect their data by changing passwords and blocking credit cards, and monitor their credit reports and bank statements for suspicious activity.
Risky apps also continue to pose a serious threat. Of course users love to install new apps on mobile devices to make lives more convenient, productive and fun. However, many apps, available in the Google Play Store is not safe. Using these apps can lead to financial losses, identity and data theft. Recently, this fraud scheme was actively exploited by the fraudsters and amount of malicious applications, which can be downloaded even in the official Play Market increased.
Below you can find some more illustrative statistics:
Cybersecurity statistics: summary
Cybersecurity is a very serious issue, and it's only getting more and more serious. As phishing attempts, malware, identity theft, and huge data breaches increase daily, the world is seeing an epidemic that can only be solved through global action.
The cybersecurity landscape is changing, the information security threats are becoming more sophisticated and more serious.