By Jennifer Adams
While technology is continuously advancing, so is cybercrime. Security initiatives are implemented to thwart cybercrime; however, hackers are just as innovative and quick to adapt their techniques to get around them. Regardless of if you are a regular citizen, small business, a growing medium-sized enterprise, or a large corporation, you need to stay current with the latest cybersecurity trends. Here are 7 cybersecurity facts that might surprise you.
- An average of 2,244 cyberattacks happened daily in 2021.
Yep, you read that right. Last year, 2,244 businesses were targeted by hackers daily. That doesn’t mean each of these attacks were successful, but there was an attempt at compromising the security of these networks.
- Every 39 seconds, someone is hit with a cyberattack
Cyber-attacks are more common than you think. A study conducted by the University of Maryland, Clark School of Engineering revealed computers are hacked an average of 2,244 times per day, that’s an attack every 39 seconds!
- After Covid-19 hit, Cybercrime increased almost 300%
Hackers took full advantage of the opportunity presented by the sudden massive shift to working-from-home. Networks were left vulnerable because there wasn’t time to properly set all employees up to work from home securely. As a result, cybercrime skyrocketed, averaging between 3,000 and 4,000 complaints per day. This is a drastic increase from before the pandemic when the average was 1,000 per day.
- 80% of attacks occur due to phishing.
Phishing, an increasingly advanced form of social engineering cyberattack, allows bad actors to create fraudulent websites and emails to trick the end user into providing their personal data. Phishing is responsible for about 80% of security breaches, making it the leading type of social engineering attack.
- The average cost of a cyberattack is $3.9 million.
A figure that continues to rise, the cost of a data breach varies depending on the industry, location, and country, but ranges between $1.25 million to $8.19 million. The average cost is $3.9 million.
- 94% of malware attacks are through email.
Because emails are a staple for day-to-day business communications, users must be alert for potentially malicious emails. In Verizon’s 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report, it was revealed email was, and still is, the main entry point for malware. From these attacks, malware was thoroughly analyzed. It was concluded that over 90% of the attacks had been through email.
- Cybercriminals can penetrate 93% of company networks
According to a study performed by Positive Technologies on a variety of organizations in the financial industry, fuel/energy industries, government bodies, industrial companies, even IT companies and other sectors; in 93% of cases, a hacker can breach an organizations network and gain access to local resources.
Cybersecurity has a larger impact on a business than most people realize. The best way to combat cybercrime is to educate yourself on the tactic’s hackers use, stay current with software updates, and have a cybersecurity expert on your team to advise you on what you may be unsure about. Even if you have a full-time IT person on your team, it can’t hurt to get a second opinion.