50+ Cybercrime Statistics Indicating The Need For Security

Worldwide, cybercrimes continuously evolve, with hackers constantly seeking new ways to exploit your data and money. They keep inventing new tricks, variations of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, or social engineering assaults to fulfill their surreptitious motives. 

Cybersecurity professionals constantly improve their techniques and technology to combat these threats. They employ several tools, such as antivirus software, DDoS protection software, and incident response solutions, to secure a company’s systems and networks against cybercrime. 

The statistics below show the true state of cybercrime across the globe. Take a look to proactively set up measures to protect against cyber threats. 

Top cybercrime statistics

Cybercrimes cost victims a lot. To gain unauthorized access to systems and networks, hackers create new ways that make detection tricky. Some rely on generative AI.

• In 2022, over 422 million people were affected by cybercrimes, with the FBI recording 800,944 complaints.
• Cybercrime costs are projected to reach $10.5 trillion by 2025.
• A hacker attack occurs every 39 seconds.
• 6.5 million people were hurt by cyber attacks between 2001 and 2021. The attacks caused a loss of nearly $26 billion. 
• The largest data breach reported in 2022 was by Shields Healthcare; it involved over 2 million people.
• Gen AI is becoming a significant cybersecurity concern as 61% of hackers plan to use it as a tool to find vulnerabilities.

Different types of cybercrimes and their costs

There are different types of cybercrimes, such as phishing, ransomware, or malware. Some of them are common, like phishing attempts, while some might be completely new to you. 

In this section, we’ll discuss various kinds of cyber attacks and how much they cost the victims. 

Phishing attacks

Phishing attacks trick victims into revealing their confidential information. They often look like legitimate emails that come from a trusted source. 

• In 2023, phishing was the second most common cause of data breaches, costing an average of $4.91 million per breach.
• Phishing attacks are responsible for 80% of reported cybercrimes.
• 96% of cyber attackers use spear-phishing to gather intelligence. 

• Cybercrime will cost the world $30 billion annually by 2025, with phishing projected to be a major contributing factor.
• Healthcare workers open 88% of phishing emails they receive. Common words in phishing emails include "important," "attention," "urgent," and "important updates."
• Phishing attacks increased by 1,265% in 2023, partly due to generative AI (GenAI). 
• According to the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG), the financial sector experienced 23.5% of all phishing attacks.

Ransomware attacks

Ransomware locks your computer or encrypts your files. Hackers then demand a ransom before they return access to your computer or files. 

• Ransomware victims who involved law enforcement saved $4.7 million on average in breach costs.
• Ransomware is predicted to cost victims $265 billion annually by 2031.

• Ransomware attack victims increased by 128% between 2022 and 2023.
• On average, a ransomware attack costs a business $5.13 million.
• Ransomware accounts for 24% of cyberattacks. 

Business email compromise

Business email compromise (BEC) attacks trick employees into transferring money or sharing sensitive information. They often come in the form of an email from a boss, coworker, or partner. 

• In the first quarter of 2023, the average wire transfer amount in BEC attacks was $187,053, which increased to $293,359 in the second quarter.
• Data breaches cost an average of $9.44 million in the US. The cost of phishing attacks has risen significantly, Facebook and Google lost $100 million in total in 2017.
• 60% of healthcare professionals say emails are the most common cause of data compromise.
• In 2022, BEC scams accounted for 1,153 cyber insurance claims.

Distributed denial of service attacks

Using several hijacked computers, DDoS attacks send a destabilizing amount of traffic to a website or online service in order to slow it down or crash the system. These attacks are the fifth leading cause of cyber threats. 

• Microsoft stops 1,700 DDoS attacks daily. Prominent DDoS victims include Amazon Web Services (AWS), GitHub, and Dyn.

• Twenty percent of current DDoS-for-hire sites emerged in 2023.

Malware attacks

Malware infects your computer to steal information, damage files, or block access to your data. 

• In 2023, 35% of malware was delivered via email.

• Malware attacks grew by 71% between 2016 and 2021.
• Mobile malware is rising, with Kaspersky Lab blocking 8.3 million mobile attacks in the third quarter of 2023.

In addition to these causes, human error proves to be a leading cause of data breach. It’s the reason for almost 74% of breaches. 

How to deal with cybercrimes

Organizations invest in modern security solutions equipped with artificial intelligence to deal with rising cybercrimes. Here are a few statistics that provide evidence for this. 

• Organizations with AI and automation experienced lower data breach costs, saving $1.8 million on average.
• Companies using AI and automated security reduced the lifecycle of data breaches by 108 days – 214 days with AI vs. 322 days without.
• Only one-third of data breaches were detected internally. 27% were disclosed by the attackers themselves.
• The US government budgeted $10 billion for cybersecurity spending in 2023.
• 95% of organizations faced at least one cybersecurity incident in 2023, but only 51% planned to increase security investments.

Employment in cybersecurity 

Currently, we’re experiencing a shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals worldwide, resulting in several unfilled cybersecurity positions. Take a look at the statistics to understand the state of employment in the cybersecurity sector. 

• There will be 3.4 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs in 2024, up from 1 million in 2014.
• Information security jobs are projected to grow by 32% between 2022 and 2032.
• The growing reliance on digital technologies increases the demand for skilled cybersecurity staff.
• The cybersecurity industry faces a skills shortage, with an estimated 5.5 million people employed globally, but approximately 4 million more needed.
• 71% of organizations have unfilled cybersecurity positions, and 44% manage teams with fewer than three years of experience.

Notable cybercrimes worldwide

Many cyber attacks have made it to the pages of history. Here are some that caused significant damage. 

• The Hospital Corporations of America (HCA) Healthcare breach affected 11 million patients in early 2023 due to unauthorized access to patient information.
• In June 2022, hackers stole 20 GB of Marriott Hotel guest information.
• Shields Healthcare Group detected a breach that hurt over 2 million people in 2022.

• Broward Health reported a breach in January 2022 that affected one million individuals.
• Novant Health’s misconfiguration in Meta pixel code led to potential unauthorized disclosure of information for one million people.
• In 2021, Facebook experienced a data breach that affected 533 million users.

Toward robust security 

Use these statistics to design measures against trending cybersecurity threats in the market – before anything bad happens. It’s better to protect rather than react to threats as they happen. See if AI can make your current systems more robust to combat the rising complexity of cybercrimes. 

Even after following the best cybersecurity practices, if cybercrime knocks on your door, you need to manage the security incident and minimize its impact. 

Learn more about incident response and make security incidents less chaotic.