Cybersecurity Statistics 2023: The Alarming Truth

 
Stats • December 13, 2023
 
Businesses are increasingly facing cyber security issues. Statistics and trends in cybersecurity show that remote work has increased cybercrime due to the COVID-19 pandemic. How much do cybercrimes affect businesses? IBM’s research shows that it takes, on average, 280 days to detect and contain. Cyber-attacks cost companies an average of $3.86 million. Cyber-attacks are expensive in terms of both time and money. Preparedness is the best way to avoid data breaches and cyber-attacks. These statistics on cybersecurity will:
  • Understanding the state of online security is important.
  • This will give you a better understanding of how to protect yourself.

Cybersecurity Statistics and COVID-19

Does the COVID-19 Pandemic Really Affect Cybersecurity? Due to COVID-19, cybercrime has increased by 600%. Why was the pandemic so devastating? It became more difficult to control security as companies began to move to remote working. It cost them a lot. The cost of a data breach has increased by $137,000. Twenty percent of managers reported that a remote employee was responsible for a security breach. Even worse, 18% said that cybersecurity was not a priority for their employees who work remotely. It doesn’t mean that all employees are at fault. 44% of companies do not offer training on the potential cyber-security issues that may arise when working from home. It is possible that remote workers weren’t prepared for the pandemic. One of the biggest cyber breaches was Zoom. Zoom statistics indicate that Zoom’s growth was significant during the COVID-19 Pandemic. By 2021, Zoom had more than 300 million active daily users. This was a 2,900% increase. Zoom was also compromised in 2020. Zoom accounts of over 500k users were compromised and sold on the dark web. Here is a simple example of how cybersecurity can affect people and businesses.

Data Breach Statistics

Hackers are constantly launching cyber attacks. A cyber attack occurs on average every 39 seconds around the world. This means that there are 2244 cyberattacks per day. The fact that there are thousands of attacks per day does not mean they all succeed. Most of them are not successful. Between January 1, 2005, and May 31, 2020, there were 11,762 data breaches involving cybersecurity. This means that more than 99.9% of all cyber-attacks are prevented. Cyber security is very effective at preventing data breaches, and the issue is more widely known. Average annual security expenditures are $2,691 for each employee. The larger companies will usually do more to prevent data breaches. Included in this is:
  • Cybersecurity education for employees
  • Employees must use strong passwords
  • Keeping a strong Internet security infrastructure
  • Dark Web Monitoring
  • Use malware and virus protection
Cyber-attacks and data breaches are rare, but they can occur. This causes many problems. It takes an average of 280 days to detect and stop a cyberattack. It costs, on average, $3.86 million to deal with it properly. This doesn’t even include all the documents and files that are exposed. In the first half of 2020, data breaches exposed 36 billion records. Data breaches can appear to be endless. Even after the initial threat is contained, the headaches caused to companies can last for years.

Cybersecurity incidents: What are the causes?

What are the main causes of cyber-security issues? Humans are the short answer. Over 95 percent of all cybersecurity breaches are caused by human error. Cybersecurity software is not enough to protect a company. The people are the biggest weakness. Cybersecurity software is proven to be effective time and time again. Simple mistakes like:
  • Visit the wrong website
  • Clicking on a suspicious link
  • Phishing emails: How to open them
This can lead to cybersecurity problems. Email is a major offender. Email is the primary method of delivery for 94% of malware. Google and Microsoft, two of the largest email providers in the world, have improved their spam protection to block malicious emails. Google claims that its machine-learning algorithm, which is used in Gmail, has improved to the point where it can filter out spam emails and phishing messages with 99.9% precision. Google statistics show that between 50% and 70% of emails received or sent in Gmail were unsolicited. What happens to companies when there’s a cyber-security issue or a breach of data is the biggest problem. Only 5% of company folders are secured properly. A small breach of online security could lead to the theft of a large number of files and data.

What are the sources of cyber-attacks?

As you can see from the above, cybersecurity is an important issue and will continue to be a topic that will require significant attention in the future. From where do these attacks originate? Take a look at the statistics below to learn about cybersecurity and how you can protect yourself. Office files make up 48% of the malicious attachments in emails. Cybercriminals send malware and viruses via email using popular office formats like Word, PDF, and Excel. Did You Know? Malware and hacking are the worst negative SEO threats you could face. Hackers are able to do subtle but damaging things that can affect your search engine. 38% of email malware is sent using Microsoft Office formats such as.doc and.xls. Archived files, such as.zip or.jar, are the next most popular method of delivery. About 37% of all malicious emails are sent using these methods. You’re right; it makes perfect sense. These files are used by employees every day, and they’re more likely to open them if the email is spam. In 34% of data breaches, the perpetrators were internal. Over a third of internal employees are responsible for the breach. 65% of hackers use spear-phishing to infect their victims. “Spear Phishing” refers to a phishing campaign that targets specific individuals or groups. Hackers often include information they know will be useful to their target audience. How effective is phishing? $17.700 is lost each minute as a result of phishing attacks. This is over $1.06m per hour and more than $25m per day. Phishing attacks are very effective.

Cyber attacks affect who?

Cyber attacks affect some industries more than others. The next statistics on cybersecurity will detail who is affected and why.

Small Businesses

Cybercriminals are most likely to target small businesses with between 1-205 employees. About One out of 323 emails that a small company receives is malicious. Small businesses receive the most malicious emails of any industry. A total of 43% of cyber attacks are directed directly at small businesses. 47% of small business owners said that they had experienced at least one cyberattack in the last year. 44% of these small businesses experienced between 2 and 4 cyber attacks in the past year. Why are cybercriminals targeting small businesses? They are easy targets because they are not prepared. Seventy percent of small businesses have no plan to handle a cyber-attack. More than two-thirds of small businesses are vulnerable. They are worried about it.
  • 66% of small businesses are very concerned with cyber security.
  • 85% of small business owners plan to increase their spending on managed security.
It is difficult to motivate small businesses to improve their cyber-security despite the risks and concerns of cyber attacks. Cyber security is not a priority for 51% of small business owners. This is probably the most alarming cyber-security statistic in this article. About half of small business owners will not do anything to protect their businesses or themselves from cyber-attacks. Even if they are aware of the risks.

Manufacturing Industry

In the last two years, cyber-attacks and breaches of data have increased in manufacturing due to financial motives. The majority of attacks are phishing emails and the use of stolen credentials. Nearly 25% of all ransomware attack victims are manufacturing companies. 71% of manufacturing breaches are due to web applications, privilege abuse (stolen credentials), and cyber espionage. 68% of cyber attacks against the manufacturing sector are motivated by financial gain. The manufacturing industry is facing a major problem. Cybersecurity seems to be the weakest sector. 75% of attacks on the industry come from external sources. Businesses need to:
  • Upgrade your security network
  • Employees should be educated on the importance of implementing cybersecurity standards.
If not, they’ll continue to be a target for criminals.

Healthcare Industry

Cybercriminals also target the healthcare industry. In the last three years, 93% of healthcare organizations reported data breaches. Only 16% of healthcare providers have “fully-functional” Security Programs in place. This means that 5 out of every six healthcare providers do not have a solid and functional cyber-security in place. The high number of breaches is not surprising. 43% of healthcare providers admit that they:
  • Still developing security programs
  • Haven’t created a single one
The healthcare industry is well aware of the cybersecurity problem, but it’s not doing enough to safeguard the business. Here is why healthcare is the most important: Internal actors cause the majority of breaches. Employee negligence is the primary cause of 81% of cyber security incidents in healthcare. Healthcare is a sector that faces more internal threats than external attacks. Unfortunately, internal cyber attacks are more difficult than external ones. Ransomware attacks are estimated to have cost the healthcare industry about 25 billion in 2019.

What is the cost of a data breach?

Companies and businesses lose a lot of cash due to data breaches. The average cost of a data breach comes to $ 3.86 million. It doesn’t take into account the long-term effects it can have.
  • The brand image of a company
  • Sales of the company
Data breaches can be disastrous for businesses. Cybercriminals have targeted remote workers in large numbers. Remote workers are easier to isolate if they have not implemented adequate security at their homes. What is the result? The cost of a breach has increased by $137,000. This is a huge jump. The average cost of a lost (or stolen!) record is $146 per person. Cyber-attacks and data breaches cost people and companies a lot of cash.

How big is the global cybersecurity market?

Cybersecurity is an important issue for many.
  • Businesses
  • Companies
  • Organisations
Cybersecurity is now more important than ever to combat the rise in cyber-attacks, data breaches, and other threats. Here are some statistics about the size of the industry. In 2022, the global cybersecurity industry is expected to generate $146.32 billion. In 2021, the industry had a value of $133.11 Billion. The cyber security market can be divided into three sectors:
  1. Hardware
  2. IT Services
  3. You can also download the software.
The following graph shows the revenue growth of each industry over the past three years. IT Services will generate $62,03 billion in revenue by 2021, making it the largest sector of the cybersecurity industry. In 2022, experts predict that the average cost of cybersecurity per employee will be $42.52.

Wrapping it Up

Cybercrime is expected to reach a record high in 2018. These statistics show that the majority of:
  • Companies
  • Employees
  • Organisations
The increasing cyber threats and data breaches are not prepared. Criminals are more likely to succeed in their attacks as the trend of remote work continues to grow. Cyber-attacks and data breaches cost companies more money.