The growth of cyber security attacks in the last year has led to organisations needing to protect themselves from the everyday hacker. Whether it be just some “script kiddies” who are having a go at trying to gain access to any website which is vulnerable or a targeted email phishing campaign the methods of attack are various. The cost is great.
Ransomeware gangs staged a “major comeback” last year, according to research, with victims of hacking attacks paying out a record $1.1 bn to assailants …
— Dan Milmo, 7 February 2024, ‘Cyber-hacking victims ‘paid out record $1.1 bn in ransoms last year’ (The Telegraph)
Cybercrime Increase
Year-over-year estimates put the growth of cyber attacks to be at about 10 – 15% each year! What plan does your organisation have to protect itself from a cyber attack? (1)
Cybercrime Cost
The cost of cybercrime is projected to reach $10 trillion by 2025 – up from $3 trillion in 2015. What is your organisation’s plan if you were to suffer a ransomeware attack and your data was encrypted? An once of prevention is worth a pound of cure. (2)
Phishing Attacks
Phishing attempts (mainly email phishing but not only) are on the increase. 60% of organisations have reported an increase in targeted phishing emails. (3)
Ransomeware
Ransomeware attacks have increased by 150% in recent years at a great cost to companies and organisations both small, medium and large. (4)
Global Spending
Increased global spending on cyber security spending! Cost will exceed $1 trillion cumulatively over the 5-year period from 2017 – 2021. (5)
Notes:
| No. | Statistic | Description | Estimated Source URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Increase in Cyber Attacks | Year-over-year increase of around 10-15% | Cybersecurity Ventures |
| 2 | Cost of Cybercrime | Projected to reach over $10 trillion annually by 2025 | Cybersecurity Ventures Report |
| 3 | Ransomware Attacks | Increase of over 150% in recent years | Symantec/Broadcom Internet Security Threat Report |
| 4 | Phishing Attempts | Over 60% of organizations report an increase | PhishMe Research |
| 5 | Data Breaches | Average cost around $4 million, 280 days to contain | IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report |
| 6 | IoT Vulnerabilities | Significant rise in IoT-related attacks | Kaspersky IoT Report |
| 7 | Mobile Security Threats | Over 70% of fraud originating from mobile platforms | Verizon Mobile Security Index |
| 8 | Cybersecurity Spending | Over $1 trillion cumulatively from 2017-2021 | Gartner Forecasts |
| 9 | AI in Cybersecurity | Growing use for predicting, preventing, responding to attacks | Capgemini Research Institute |
| 10 | Cybersecurity Talent Gap | Millions of unfilled positions in the coming years | Cybersecurity Jobs Report |
1 Morgan, Steve, 2020, ‘Cybercrime To Cost The World $10.5 Trillion Annually By 2025’, CyberCrime Magazine, 13th November 2020, viewed 9 February 2024, <https://cybersecurityventures.com/cybercrime-damages-6-trillion-by-2021/>
2 ‘What is the Actual Cost of Cybercrime?’, Evolve Security Blog, (no date). Available at <https://www.evolvesecurity.com/blog-posts/actual-cost-of-cybercrime>