Unless you’ve been sailing around the world these last 18 months, then you are probably very much aware that cybercrime is up since the start of the global pandemic. Just how up, though? In short, cybercrimes have exploded. As evidence, just consider the 10 cybersecurity statistics below.
1. 600% increase in cybercrime
“Due to the COVID-19 outbreak an uptick in sophisticated phishing email schemes by cybercriminals has emerged. Malicious actors are posing as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or World Health Organization (WHO) representatives.” – PurpleSec
2. $6 trillion global cybercrime price tag by the end of 2021
“Cybercrime is one of the greatest threats. Don’t think that all that money comes from hackers targeting corporations, banks, or wealthy celebrities. Individual users like you and me are also targets. As long as you’re connected to the Internet, you can become a victim of cyberattacks.” – Cyberint
3. $1.07 million increase in the cost of data breaches associated with remote workers
“The average cost was $1.07 million higher in breaches where remote work was a factor in causing the breach, compared to those where remote work was not a factor.” – IBM
4. 95% of cybersecurity breaches caused by human error
“Cyber-criminals and hackers will infiltrate your company through your weakest link, which is almost never in the IT department.” – Cyberint
5. 94% of malware is delivered via email
“Phishing attacks account for more than 80% of reported security incidents, with $17,700 lost every minute because of this social engineering tactic.” – CSO Online
6. 84% of executives say they are not ready to deal with a cyberattack
“The threat is only getting worse, as growth in most industries depends on new technology, such as artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, and the Internet of Things (IoT), that will bring all kinds of benefits but also expose companies and their customers to new kinds of cyber risk, arriving in new ways.” – McKinsey & Company
7. 3+ million healthcare records being breached monthly
“More than 40 million healthcare records have been exposed or impermissibly disclosed over the past 12 months across 674 reported breaches. On average, between July 2020 and June 2021, an average of 3,343,448 healthcare records were breached each month.” – HIPAA Journal
8. 500,000+ Zoom credentials being sold on the Dark Web
“Cybersecurity firm Cyble discovered at least 530,000 Zoom accounts listed for sale on dark web hacker forums. The firm verified that the accounts are legitimate; each contains the username and password as well as registered email address, host key, and personal meeting URL. This gives a malicious actor access to not just the account, but to the contents of any meetings it might have either hosted or been a party to.” – CPO Magazine
9. 43% of cyberattacks targeting small businesses
“64% of companies have experienced web-based attacks. 62% experienced phishing & social engineering attacks. 59% of companies experienced malicious code and botnets and 51% experienced denial of service attacks. small organizations (those with fewer than 500 employees) spend an average of $7.68 million per incident.” – Cyberint
10. 61% of companies have more than 500 users with passwords that will never expire
“Very few (if any) accounts should have passwords that never expire. Users with non-expiring passwords give attackers a large window to crack them using brute force. Once breached, they provide indefinite access to data. Passwords that aren’t periodically changed are more likely to appear in breached password dumps.” – Varonis
