Did you know some of the world’s largest cyber attacks took place in 2014? What’s even more shocking is that a very low percentage of computer users surveyed admit that they take steps to protect themselves from these crippling attacks.

This data clearly depicts why the United States is in dire need of more trained cyber professionals, especially considering 77 percent of serious cyber attacks last year occurred in the U.S. Recent numerical data shows time and time again that daily web users need cyber professionals working to protect them. Some of these shocking statistics include:

More than 552 million identities were stolen virtually in 2013 due to cyber breaches (just think how many times you paid for something online in the past 365 days! You too are at risk!)

One in eight legitimate websites have a critical vulnerability. Enjoy reading the news online in the morning with a cup of coffee? Enjoy online shopping in the evenings? If you answered yes to either of these, you are automatically at risk.

It costs an average of 11.6 million dollars per cyber crime incident.

The biggest issue is that the demand for cyber security professionals has grown 3.5 times faster than the demand for other Information Technology professionals in the past five years—in short, demand is exceeding supply so much that organizations report that they have trouble finding qualified individuals to hire. Interested in entering this exciting field? View the infographic below: