With global cybercrime damages predicted to cost up to $6 trillion annually by 2021, not getting caught in the landslide is a matter of taking in the right information and acting on it quickly.

We collected and organized over 300 up-to-date cybercrime statistics that highlight:



The magnitude of cybercrime operations and impact

The attack tactics bad actors used most frequently in the past year

How user behavior is changing and how it… isn’t

What cybersecurity professionals are doing to counteract these threats

How different countries fare in terms of fighting off blackhat hackers and other nation states

What can be done to keep data and assets safe from scams and attacks.

Dig into these surprising (and sometimes mind-boggling) internet security statistics to understand what’s going on globally and discover how several countries fare in protecting themselves.

The article includes plenty of visual representations of the most important facts and figures in information security today.

Headline cybercrime statistics for 2019-2020

With the threat landscape always changing, it’s important to understand how cyber attacks are evolving and which security controls and types of training work.



There were 144.91 million new malware samples in 2019 (AV-Test) and we’re already at 38.48 million new samples in 2020 (and this only accounts for January until April 2020)

In 2018, 93.6% of malware observed was polymorphic , meaning it has the ability to constantly change its code to evade detection (2020 Webroot Threat Report)

, meaning it has the ability to constantly change its code to evade detection (2020 Webroot Threat Report) Almost 50% of business PCs and 53% of consumer PCs that got infected once were re-infected within the same year (2020 Webroot Threat Report)

In 2019, 93.6% of malware detected was only seen on a single PC. This is the highest yearly rate we’ve ever seen, although the number has been above 90% since 2014.

2020 Webroot Threat Report



Malicious hackers are now attacking computers and networks at a rate of one attack every 39 seconds (University of Maryland)

(University of Maryland) 81% of surveyed organizations were aﬀected by a successful cyberattack in 2019 (CyberEdge Group 2020 Cyberthreat Defense Report)

CyberEdge Group 2020 Cyberthreat Defense Report

More than two-thirds of IT security professionals believe a successful cyber attack is imminent in 2020.

CyberEdge 2020 Cyberthreat Defense Report



Mexico was the hardest-hit country by cyberattacks in 2019, with 93.9% of all surveyed companies being compromised at least once last year (CyberEdge 2020 Cyberthreat Defense Report)

CyberEdge Group 2020 Cyberthreat Defense Report

Naturally, these facts and figures are just the tip of the iceberg. The deeper we dive into the wealth of information cybersecurity reports now offer, the clearer and more unnerving the picture becomes.

Ransomware statistics 2020

Ransomware infection rates are dropping but almost half of the victims pay the ransom.

Ransomware has been the core concern for cybersecurity professionals for years but in 2018 it finally started to decline in volume. However, it doesn’t serve us to get excited about progress just yet, as more and more companies are paying the ransom when they do get hit.

US ransomware attacks cost an estimated $7.5 billion in 2019. (Emsisoft)

More than 150 million ransomware attacks occurred in the first nine months of 2019 although this represented a five percent decrease over the previous year. (SonicWall)

occurred in the first nine months of 2019 although this represented a five percent decrease over the previous year. (SonicWall) A ransomware attack in early 2020 on the New Orleans city government cost the city upwards of $7 million. (SC Magazine)

In May 2019, a ransomware attack reportedly cost the Baltimore City government more than $18 million. (Engadget)

Since 2016, a total of 172 ransomware attacks have cost US healthcare organizations $172 million. (Comparitech)

One out of five Americans has dealt with a ransomware attack. (The Harris Poll)

(The Harris Poll) Ransomware is involved in 27 percent of malware security incidents, up from 24% lin 2019. (Verizon 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report)

Ransom payments more than doubled in Q4 of 2019 versus Q3, increasing from $41,198 to $84,116. (Coveware’s Q4 2019 Ransomware Marketplace report)

The average downtime due to a ransomware attack was 16.2 days in Q4 of 2019 compared to 12.1 days in Q3. (Coveware’s Q4 2019 Ransomware Marketplace report)

“The increase in downtime was driven by a higher prevalence of attacks against larger enterprises, who often spend weeks fully remediating and restoring their systems.”

Coveware’s Q4 2019 Ransomware Marketplace report

Ransomware attacks can be extremely costly. For example, an attack involving the NotPetya ransomware cost shipping firm Maersk more than $200 million .

. In 2018, enterprise ransomware increased by 12%, accounting for 81% of all successful ransomware infections. (2019 Internet Security Threat Report by Symantec)

The US, Brazil, India, Vietnam, and Turkey are the countries with the most ransomware attacks. (Trend Micro Fast Facts report)

The number of new mobile ransomware Trojans increased slightly in 2019 versus 2018, but decreased over the course of 2019. (Kaspersky Labs)

The US, Kazakhstan, and Iran top the list of countries attacked by mobile ransomware in terms of share of users. (Kaspersky Labs)

What makes the ransomware problem worse is that nation-states are involved. Investigations proved that the WannaCry and NotPetya ransomware attack campaigns were orchestrated by nation-state actors. They may have started in 2017, but their effect continued throughout 2018 and beyond. The objective was to destroy information or cause distractions rather than to derive financial benefits.

Datto’s Global State of the Channel Ransomware Report 2020 shows that ransomware is still a huge cause for concern for any type of organization, particularly SMBs. Datto surveyed more than 1,400 Managed Service Providers (MSPs), partners, and clients across the globe. Here are some of the key findings

89 percent of MSPs state that ransomware is the most common threat to SMBs.

64 percent reported attacks against clients in the first half of 2019 , representing an 8% increase year-on-year. However, only 5% report multiple attacks in one day, down from 15% in 2019.

, representing an 8% increase year-on-year. However, only 5% report multiple attacks in one day, down from 15% in 2019. Two out of five SMBs have fallen victim to a ransomware attack.

One somewhat alarming disconnect was revealed in the report:

90% of MSPs are “very concerned” about the ransomware threat and 24% report their SMB clients feel the same.

Datto’s Global State of the Channel Ransomware Report 2020

Datto’s Global State of the Channel Ransomware Report 2020

Phishing emails, lack of training, and weak passwords are some of the top causes of ransomware attacks.

Downtime costs increased by 75 percent year-over-year.

The average cost of downtime is 24 times higher than the average ransom amount.

On the bright side, having Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) solutions in place is a huge plus. Three out of four MSPs said that clients with BCDR solutions recovered from an attack within 24 hours.

The vast majority of MSPs (75%) admitted that they too are increasingly targeted in cyberattacks involving ransomware.

Individual users weren’t spared either. According to Cyware, 232,292 unique users had their computers and data encrypted with malware in Q2 2019. This was a 46 percent increase over Q2 2018.

Cyware also reported that the most common ransomware families in Q2 2019 were WannaCry (23 percent) and GandCrab (14 percent).

While ransomware infection rates are declining, increasingly more companies choose to pay the ransom. Almost half of organizations hit by ransomware pay to get their data unlocked, further fueling cyber criminal activities.

The percentage of victimized organizations that paid associated ransoms rose considerably this year, from 45% to 57.5%” mentions Imperva in their 2020 Cyberthreat Defense Report.

Imperva 2020 Cyberthreat Defense Report

In terms of geographical distribution, ransomware hit Mexico, Spain, and Italy the hardest in 2019, according to the Imperva 2020 Cyberthreat Defense Report.

Because cybersecurity is a discipline with widespread implications and interdependencies, we’re going to dive into the most prominent attack tactics next. Reports from 2018 and 2017 overflow with data that both concerns companies across industries and addresses particular issues.

Other common cyber attack tactics

Ransomware is not the only concern. Over the next sections, we’ll take a look at other common attack vectors.

Favored cyber attack tactics include cryptojacking and encrypted communication

Cryptojacking attacks remained prominent in the first half of 2019, with 52.7 million hits being registered in the first half of the year. However, the number dropped steeply in the later of the year by a whopping 78 percent. (2020 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report)

This followed a big jump in 2018 when cryptojacking attacks increased in volume by 400%, stealing the spotlight (2019 Internet Security Threat Report by Symantec).

Cybercriminals now spread malware that infects victims’ computers and unlawfully uses their processing power to mine cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin or Monero.

The dropping value of cryptocurrencies may have weakened interest in ransomware but mining for virtual currencies is still hugely relevant.

Cyber criminals are moving from ransomware to cryptojacking. While the growth of ransomware has been slower, threat actors have moved to cryptojacking as it is simpler, more profitable and less risky for them. It is expected that cyber criminals will be leveraging cryptojacking at scale, continue embedding cryptoming capabilities to malware families and mostly focus on targeted ransomware campaigns.

ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018

In its report, ENISA notes that cryptojacking malware skyrocketed by 629% (from 400,000 samples in Q4 2017 to 2.9 million samples in Q1 2018).

During the first half of 2018, it was estimated that cryptominers have monetized for their users more than US $2.5 billion. Smominru mining botnet that has infected more than 500.000 Windows machines has already mined Monero, valued between US $2,8M and US $3,6M. It was estimated that an adversary controlling 2,000 victim computer systems with Monero miners could generate US $500 per day or US $182,500 per year.

ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018

But cryptojacking is not the only attack giving CISOs, CIOs, and IT managers more trouble than they can handle. Statistics show that several threat vectors are cause for concern.



Cybercriminals are quick to find ways to get around strengthened security; supply chain attacks grew 78% in 2018 (2019 Internet Security Threat Report by Symantec)

in 2018 (2019 Internet Security Threat Report by Symantec) Another study corroborates this insight and provides more context: “companies that have experienced 50% or more of their breaches from indirect attacks —targeted at their organization but initiated through partner organizations—are more likely to join or lead efforts to ensure the trustworthiness of the Internet economy” (Accenture – Securing the Digital Economy)

—targeted at their organization but initiated through partner organizations—are more likely to join or lead efforts to ensure the trustworthiness of the Internet economy” (Accenture – Securing the Digital Economy) Cybercriminal tactics often leverage available information: 63 percent of network intrusions are the result of compromised user passwords and usernames . (Microsoft)

are the result of . (Microsoft) Malicious documents are also a well-known infection vector that hasn’t lost its popularity: in its 2018 Annual Cybersecurity Report, Cisco found that, globally, 38% percent of malicious email attachments were Microsoft Office formats such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. (Cisco)

such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. (Cisco) Archive files, the likes of .zip and .jar, represent around 37% of all malicious file extensions Cisco observed, with malicious PDF files accounting for 14% of the total. (Cisco)

While attacks on household names make headlines, Symantec’s telemetry shows that it is often small and medium sized retailers, selling goods ranging from clothing to gardening equipment to medical supplies, that have had formjacking code injected onto their websites. This is a global problem with the potential to affect any business that accepts payments from customers online.

Besides the already classic attack vectors, cybercriminals are also looking to piggyback on the boom in ecommerce and online shopping:

2019 Internet Security Threat Report by Symantec

The increasing adoption of cloud-based platforms is still leaving cybersecurity professionals playing catch-up:



93% of companies deal with rogue cloud apps usage (Imperva 2019 Cyberthreat Defense Report)

(Imperva 2019 Cyberthreat Defense Report) 82% of cloud users have experienced security events caused by confusion over who is responsible to secure the implementations (Oracle and KPMG Cloud Threat Report 2019)

Imperva 2019 Cyberthreat Defense Report

Here are some key statistics that highlight the diversity in malicious tactics and strategies:



35 percent of companies in a global survey were targeted by an SSL or TLS-based attack (Gartner)

in a global survey were targeted by an (Gartner) Fileless attacks were used in 77% of successful compromises in 2018 because they’re increasingly effective at evading detection; as a consequence, the trend is bound to increase (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

in 2018 because they’re increasingly effective at evading detection; as a consequence, the trend is bound to increase (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) Financial trojans may have steadily declined in volume but they’re still one of the biggest threats against consumers; the most prevalent financial trojans of 2018 are Zeus, Emotet, URLzone, Ursnif, and Trickbot (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

are (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) Open-source malware is increasingly used by cybercriminals of all levels and backgrounds to make illicit profits because it makes scaling their operations and attribution a lot less challenging (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

of all levels and backgrounds to make illicit profits because it makes scaling their operations and attribution a lot less challenging (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) In 2018, polymorphic malware accounted for 94% of all malicious executables (2018 Webroot Threat Report)

accounted for (2018 Webroot Threat Report) The use of encrypted Command and Control (C2) communication increased by 300% in 2018 (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018

Physical attacks are also on the rise, as cybercrime statistics show:



30% of reported data breaches in retail were caused by payment card skimming attacks (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

were caused by attacks (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) 87% of the reported card skimming attacks target petrol stations (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

(ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) During 2017, almost 3,600 physical attacks against banking ATMs were reported in Europe , 20% more than in 2016 (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

were reported in , 20% more than in 2016 (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) Black box ATM attacks increased by 307% in Europe, as reported by the European Association for Secure Transactions (EAST), with related losses hiking by 268%, from €0,41 million to €1,51 million

ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018

The numbers are climbing when it comes to internal threats, too: 54% more organizations recorded a growth of insider threats in 2018 (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018).



ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018

Motivations are also changing, moving from making money through nefarious tactics to collecting data that can be used to cash out on multiple subsequent attacks:

The most likely reason for an organization to experience a targeted attack was intelligence gathering, which is the motive for 96 percent of groups.

2019 Internet Security Threat Report by Symantec

EY – Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019

DDos attacks grow in both duration and frequency

With more unsecured devices connecting to the internet than ever, cybercriminals are taking full advantage of their processing power. Once recruited into botnets, they harness their collective power to launch powerful DDoS attacks that companies can barely survive.

Here are some statistics that illustrate this growing issue:



In 2019, the number of DDoS attacks increased by almost 50% over the previous year. The average duration of attacks also increased around 50%. (Kaspersky Labs)

over the previous year. The average duration of attacks also increased around 50%. (Kaspersky Labs) This followed a year-on-year trend as in 2018, DDoS attacks over 10Gbps increased 100%. (Full Year 2018 DDoS Trends Report by Corero)

Netscout Threat Intelligence saw 8.4 million DDoS attacks in 2019. This is roughly 23,000 attacks a day or 16 attacks per minute.

NETSCOUT Threat Intelligence Report Findings from 2H 2019

The same report found that DDoS attacks on mobile networks increased by 64% in 2019. (NETSCOUT Threat Intelligence Report Findings from 2H 2019)

Satellite telecommunications saw an increase of 295% in attack frequency. (NETSCOUT Threat Intelligence Report Findings from 2H 2019)

The industry with the highest number of reported DDoS attacks was the wired telecommunications carrier industry, with more than one million attacks in 2019. (NETSCOUT Threat Intelligence Report Findings from 2H 2019)

NETSCOUT Threat Intelligence Report Findings from 2H 2019

The maximum duration of attacks increased by around 16% compared to 2018. (Kaspersky Labs)

The distribution of attacks by country sees China having the lion’s share (58%) of attacks and the US experiencing 17% of attacks in Q4 2019. (Kaspersky Labs)

Attack frequency for the education sector increased by 41% in 2019. (NETSCOUT Threat Intelligence Report Findings from 2H 2019)

The maximum attack size in the wholesale trades industry increased by 834%.

NETSCOUT Threat Intelligence Report Findings from 2H 2019

Phishing attacks reach their highest level in 3 years

Malicious hackers and scammers are getting craftier at creating and sending phishing emails that trick even the most cautious users. The data shows that this is a constant cause for concern with no sign of slowing down in terms of effectiveness.



Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report 2019

Scammers and attacks send out 6.4 billion fake emails every day (EY – Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

Small organizations receive malicious emails at a higher rate. (Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report 2019)

(Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report 2019) Mining companies are most likely to receive malicious emails. (Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report 2019)

Webmail and SaaS users are the biggest targets of phishing attacks. (APWG’s Phishing Activity Trends Report for Q3 2019)

APWG’s Phishing Activity Trends Report for Q3 2019

Phishing is the number one type of threat action involved in data breaches. (Verizon’s 2020 Data Breach Investigation Report)

Verizon reports that 30 percent of phishing emails in the U.S. are opened , with 12 percent of those targeted by these emails clicking on infected links or attachments (Verizon)

, with 12 percent of those targeted by these emails clicking on infected links or attachments (Verizon) Microsoft reported a huge increase of 250% in phishing emails between January and December 2018 , analyzing more than 470 billion email messages every month for this particular threat and for malware. (Microsoft Security Intelligence Report Volume 24)

, analyzing more than 470 billion email messages every month for this particular threat and for malware. (Microsoft Security Intelligence Report Volume 24) The volumes are enormous even for specific attacks: a single campaign during Q1 2018 sent out 550 million phishing emails over that 3-month period (EY – Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

over that 3-month period (EY – Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) The business world is also aware of this gigantic issue: 22% of surveyed decision makers see phishing as the biggest threat (EY – Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

(EY – Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) 30% of phishing sites used HTTPS in 2017 compared to just 5% during 2016, a trend experts believe will continue to grow (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

compared to just 5% during 2016, a trend experts believe will continue to grow (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) In 2017, phishing campaigns were short-lived: phishing websites typically stayed online for 4-8 hours (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

(ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) What’s more, in 2017, phishers used 28% more malicious attachments compared to malicious URLs in the phishing emails they sent (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

in the phishing emails they sent (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) 41% of phishing domains include a single character swap, 32% have an additional character, and 13% have added or removed leading or final domain’s characters to confuse and deceive their victims (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

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The ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018 also mentions that:

The 10 most frequent words in malicious emails during 2017 were: delivery (12.1%),

mail (11.8%),

message (11.3%),

sender (11.2%),

your (11.2%),

returning (7.6%),

failed (7.6%),

invoice (6.9%),

Images (6.6%),

and scanned (6.5%) Tuesday has been observed as the most popular day for phishers to conduct their campaigns while the least popular day was Friday. Most frequent words used within BEC phishing emails are: payment (13.8%),

urgent (9.1%),

Request (6.7%),

attention (6.1%),

important (4.8%),

confidential (2.0%),

immediate response (1.9%),

transfer (1.8%),

important update (1.7%)

and attn (1.5%). The most popular attachment name categories used in the attachments of BEC phishing attacks were: Purchase Order,

Payment,

Invoice,

Receipt,

Slip,

Bill,

Advice

and Transfer.

Phishing and other types of email fraud rely heavily on impersonation to make their attacks more effective. Displaying fake display names to deceive victims is preferred by bad actors over typosquatting or domain spoofing.

During December 2019 through June 2020, Agari data indicates 68% of all identity-deception based attacks leveraged display name deception aimed at impersonating a trusted individual or brand—typically an outside vendor, supplier or partner.

Q1 2020: Email Fraud and Identity Deception Trends by Agari



The most frequently impersonated brands are Microsoft (35.87% of the time) and Amazon (26.79% of the time). (Q4 2018: Email Fraud and Identity Deception Trends by Agari)

Q4 2018: Email Fraud and Identity Deception Trends by Agari

When it comes to fooling executives, scammers, spammers, and other bad actors leverage the trust people have in Microsoft and Dropbox:

Q4 2018: Email Fraud and Identity Deception Trends by Agari

Spam gets localized and grows in volume on social media platforms

Channels may change, but spam is one of those attack tactics that’s bound to stick with us for the foreseeable future and quite possibly beyond it.

Spam consistently accounts for more than half of all mail traffic. In Q3 2019, the average share of spam in global mail traffic was 56%.

Kaspersky Spam and Phishing in Q3 2019



China and the US remain the top spam-source countries , generating 20.43% and 13.37% of spam respectively. (Kaspersky Spam and Phishing in 2019)

, generating 20.43% and 13.37% of spam respectively. (Kaspersky Spam and Phishing in 2019) The countries most likely to be targeted with malicious emails are Germany (10.36%), Vietnam (5.92%) and Brazil (5.92%). (Kaspersky Spam and Phishing in 2019)

75% of spam most commonly breaks into: health related spam (26.6%), malware delivering spam (25.7%) and spam for online dating sites (21.4%). The remaining 25 percent includes: stock spam (4.6%), fake job offers (3.5%), phishing spam (2.1%), financial spam (1.9%) and adult spam (1.5%). (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

While in 2017 96% of the spam was in English, the levels of spam in English fell to 90% in 2018. This indicates a trend that spam is getting more “international” and localized.

And it’s not just that spam comes in volumes. It’s also getting localized and, as a result, more convincing.

ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018

Cybercriminals are not content with just using the billions of email addresses leaked through data breaches. They’re also validating their lists of potential victims and bypass spam filters in ever clever ways:

Another interesting technique that spammers used during the reporting period was the abuse of subscription forms. Spammers used a script that auto-filled subscription forms of regular websites and inserted the target email address in the “Email” form as well as a short message with a spam link in the form of the “Name”. Thus, the targets received an automatic “list subscription” confirmation email that contained a spam link instead of their name. Spammers wanted to fool email filters since usually the content of “list subscription” confirmation emails is normally allowed.

ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018



China and India are home to the most prolific spambots in the world, serving fake and malicious emails in overwhelming volumes:

ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018

As you’d expect, spammers have also taken to social media. From fake lotteries and coupons to fictitious giveaways from popular retailers, they’re using past experience to hook unsuspecting victims:

A recent survey reported that 47% of social media users are seeing more spam in their feeds (79% of which believe that spam content on social media includes fake news).

ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018

Most cybercrime now leverages mobile channels

More devices, more problems. From BYOD to malicious apps with millions of downloads, cybercriminals have plenty of opportunities to exploit, scam, and extort victims in both corporate and private environments.



Most cybercrime is now mobile. Over 60% of online fraud is accomplished through mobile platforms. Additionally, 80% of mobile fraud is carried out through mobile apps instead of mobile web browsers. (RSA)

instead of mobile web browsers. (RSA) The top categories for malicious apps are Tools/Personalization/Productivity (22.32%), Games (18.97%), Entertainment/Lifestyle/Shopping (15.76%), Communication/Social/News & Magazines (9.72%), Music & Audio/Video Players & Editors/Media & Video (9.23%). (Upstream Secure-D Mobile Ad Fraud 2019 Report)

Upstream Secure-D Mobile Ad Fraud 2019 Report

Secure-D identified almost 98,000 malicious apps, a 55% increase over 2018. (Upstream Secure-D Mobile Ad Fraud 2019 Report)

Secure-D had to block 1.6 billion transactions (a shocking 93% of total transactions) as fraudulent. This represented $2.1 billion worth of transactions. (Upstream Secure-D Mobile Ad Fraud 2019 Report)

IT detected more than 43 million infected devices in 2019, compared to 30 million in 2018. (Upstream Secure-D Mobile Ad Fraud 2019 Report)

Upstream Secure-D Mobile Ad Fraud 2019 Report

In corporate contexts, decision-makers are aware of the issue: 83% of them said that their organization was at risk from mobile threats and 86% agreed that mobile threats are growing faster than others (Verizon Mobile Security Index 2019)

of them said that and agreed that than others (Verizon Mobile Security Index 2019) What amplifies the issue is the lack of preparedness: 67% of organizations confessed they are less confident about the security of their mobile assets than other devices in their network (Verizon Mobile Security Index 2019)

confessed they than other devices in their network (Verizon Mobile Security Index 2019) In spite of these realizations, 43% of companies said they sacrificed mobile security to “get the job done” in 2018 compared to 48% in 2018 (Verizon Mobile Security Index 2020)

to “get the job done” in 2018 compared to 48% in 2018 (Verizon Mobile Security Index 2020) Consequences are inevitable: 39% of surveyed organizations suffered a compromise involving a mobile device in 2019 whose impact was significant (Verizon Mobile Security Index 2019)

of surveyed organizations in 2019 whose impact was significant (Verizon Mobile Security Index 2019) 66% of compromised companies described the incident as “major” (Verizon Mobile Security Index 2020)

EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019

The largest volume of mobile malware was hosted in 3rd party app stores ; most mobile malware was found in the Lifestyle (27%) and Music & Audio (20%) categories (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

; most mobile malware was found in the Lifestyle (27%) and Music & Audio (20%) categories (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) Mobile fraud is overtaking web fraud . 65% of fraud transactions start on mobile devices (RSA 2018 Current State of Cybercrime)

. (RSA 2018 Current State of Cybercrime) Since 2015, fraud carried out through mobile apps increased by 600% (RSA 2018 Current State of Cybercrime)

(RSA 2018 Current State of Cybercrime) Phishing attacks on mobile devices have increased by an average of 85% year-over-year since 2011 (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

devices have since 2011 (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) Over 26 billion robocalls were made to US phones alone in 2018, which makes for a 46% year-over-year increase in volume (Hiya Robocall Radar 2018 Report)

Managing cybersecurity vulnerabilities improves but still troubles companies and countries around the world

Software and hardware vulnerabilities continue to be topics of prime importance for the tech world. Let’s explore some highlights that stand out from the numerous reports cybersecurity companies created on the topic:



The number of reported application vulnerabilities in 2018 (16,517) was almost 2,000 more than in 2017 (14,647) . Although, this leap wasn’t as bad as the previous year when the number more than doubled. (2019 Application Security Research Update)

. Although, this leap wasn’t as bad as the previous year when the number more than doubled. (2019 Application Security Research Update) 7,159 products were affected by vulnerabilities in 2018, compared to 6,028 in 2017 and 2,343 in 2016. (2019 Application Security Research Update)

Although vulnerabilities increase when integrating or working with third parties , only 15% of organizations have basic security controls in place to deal with this issue (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

, in place to deal with this issue (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) 36% of surveyed organizations are aware of 3rd party vulnerabilities through self-assessments (22%) or independent assessments (14%) but this leaves 64% of companies with zero visibility on this issue (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

of surveyed organizations through self-assessments (22%) or independent assessments (14%) but this leaves (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) 35% of larger companies have a formal and up-to-date threat intelligence program compared to 25% of smaller organizations (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019

2019 marked a change, with “attacks insider/rogue of Detection.” displacing app development and testing as the most challenging security process for organizations (Imperva 2020 Cyberthreat Defense Report)

On the bright side, 78.7% of organizations considered their organization made improvements in managing vulnerabilities and handling patch management (Imperva 2019 Cyberthreat Defense Report)

considered their organization (Imperva 2019 Cyberthreat Defense Report) Still, over 75 percent of large companies (500+ employees) rely on the antivirus software that came pre-installed on their computer equipment, which may not be the most effective countermeasure (NDIA 2019 Cybersecurity Report)

Reports show thatwhich puts this issue at the top of CISOs’ tasks lists across the world.



Deloitte-NASCIO Cybersecurity Survey (2018)

In one incident, the health records of almost 100 million patients worldwide were put at risk by security bugs found in one of the world’s most widely used patient and practice management systems.

EY – Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019

What’s more, the issue is so pervasive that even countries are working on this aspect:



Deloitte-NASCIO Cybersecurity Survey 2018

In terms of attacks that seek to exploit software and hardware vulnerabilities, tactics abound:



51% of attacks targeting web applications are SQLi attacks (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

(ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) Local File Inclusion comes in second place with 34% and Cross-Site Scripting comes in third with 8% (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

comes in second place with and comes in third with (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) Another report puts Cross-Site Scripting at 40% of all web attacks observed in 2017 (2018 Trustwave Global Security Report)

at observed in 2017 (2018 Trustwave Global Security Report) In EMEA, 42% of all cyber attacks were focused on compromising web apps (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018).

The volume of IoT attacks remains constant

But not all vulnerabilities are related to software or hardware. EY reports in its Global Information Security Survey (2018-2019) thatsee

As the number of IoT devices continue to multiply wildly, so do the security issues associated with it. The numbers speak for themselves.

The number of Internet connected devices is expected to increase from 31 billion in 2020 to 35 billion in 2021 and 75 billion in 2025.

Security Today’s The IoT Rundown for 2020

In the first half of 2019, the number of cyberattacks on IoT devices increased by 300%. (F-Secure Attack Landscape H1 2019)

(F-Secure Attack Landscape H1 2019) This represented 2.9 billion events and was the first time numbers have surpassed a billion. (F-Secure Attack Landscape H1 2019)

F-Secure Attack Landscape Report H2 2019

69% of enterprises have networks that are made up of more IoT devices than computers . (Forrester State of Enterprise IoT Security in North America)

. (Forrester State of Enterprise IoT Security in North America) 84% of security professionals think that computers are less vulnerable than IoT devices. (Forrester State of Enterprise IoT Security in North America)

Security incidents involving IoT devices have impacted 67% of enterprises. (Forrester State of Enterprise IoT Security in North America)

(Forrester State of Enterprise IoT Security in North America) Only around 21% of security professionals think their current security controls are adequate.

In 2018, VPNFilter malware compromised around 500,000 devices worldwide, building a massive network its creators could use to remain anonymous (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

The overall volume of IoT attacks remained high in 2018 and consistent compared to 2017. Routers and connected cameras were the most infected devices and accounted for 75 and 15 percent of the attacks respectively.

2019 Internet Security Threat Report by Symantec



For organizations, the top 3 challenges related to IoT security are knowing their assets (14%), detecting suspicious traffic (12%), and ensuring the security controls match current cybersecurity challenges (11%) (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019

Estimations project that IoT security spending is growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 44% and will reach almost $4.4 billion by 2022 (IoT Security Market Report 2017-2022)

is growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 44% and will reach (IoT Security Market Report 2017-2022) Between 2015-2017 most of IoT security breaches were caused by malware (IoT Security Market Report 2017-2022)

As we’ve seen, default passwords are the core attack tactic, so the biggest IoT security issues that need to be solved are authentication/authorization (32%), followed by access control (15%) and data encryption (14%) (IoT Security Market Report 2017-2022)

48% of businesses are unable to detect if any of their IoT devices are impacted by a security breach (Gemalto The State of IoT Security 2018)

of businesses are if any of their are impacted by a (Gemalto The State of IoT Security 2018) 79% believe governments around the world should provide stronger guidelines regarding IoT security (Gemalto The State of IoT Security 2018)

around the world regarding IoT security (Gemalto The State of IoT Security 2018) 19% use blockchain technology to help secure data flowing through IoT devices , up from 9% in 2017 (Gemalto The State of IoT Security 2018)

, up from 9% in 2017 (Gemalto The State of IoT Security 2018) 97% believe strong IoT security can be a key competitive differentiator (Gemalto The State of IoT Security 2018)

(Gemalto The State of IoT Security 2018) 59% consider that IoT security regulations should define and assign responsibility for this particular aspect (Gemalto The State of IoT Security 2018)

Gemalto The State of IoT Security 2018

Social media scams and attacks spread like wildfire

With billions of users and everyday usage skyrocketing, social media platforms became a goldmine for cybercriminals and scammers.

Attitudes regarding social media seem to be changing but behaviors aren’t following suit, which leaves bad actors with plenty of opportunities to steal data and defraud users across the globe.



Facebook breaches were responsible for a whopping 849 million leaked records in 2019. (Comparitech)

in 2019. (Comparitech) Social media incidents were responsible for the breach of 56% of the 4.5 billion records breached in H1 2018. (Gemalto Breach Level Index)

of the 4.5 billion records breached in H1 2018. (Gemalto Breach Level Index) 96% of Baby Boomers are distrustful of social media when it comes to protecting their data, followed by 94% of Gen Xers, 93% of Gen Z, and 92% of Millennials. (The Blinding Effect of Security Hubris on Data Privacy by Malwarebytes)

An overwhelming majority of all users (94 percent) refrain from sharing personal information on social media and 95 percent of polled users felt an overall sense of distrust for social media networks. If given the option to “choose the lesser evil,” they’d rather forgo using social media than search engines.

The Blinding Effect of Security Hubris on Data Privacy by Malwarebytes



Given that crimes involving social media grew more than 300-fold between 2015-2017 in the US , this is quickly becoming one of the most pressing issues in the tech world (Bromium Into The Web of Profit – Social media platforms and the cybercrime economy)

, this is quickly becoming one of the most pressing issues in the tech world (Bromium Into The Web of Profit – Social media platforms and the cybercrime economy) UK police statistics show social media-enabled crime quadrupled between 2013 and 2018 (Bromium Into The Web of Profit – Social media platforms and the cybercrime economy)

police statistics show (Bromium Into The Web of Profit – Social media platforms and the cybercrime economy) Facebook-related crime grew 19% in the UK in 2019. (The Commentator)

Over 1.3 billion social media users have had their data compromised within the last five years and between 45-50% of the illicit trading of data from 2017 to 2018 could be associated with breaches of social media platforms, like LinkedIn and Facebook.

Bromium Into The Web of Profit – Social media platforms and the cybercrime economy



The social media issue goes even deeper: 59% feel it’s unethical for social media platforms to tailor newsfeeds (RSA Data Privacy & Security Survey 2019)

(RSA Data Privacy & Security Survey 2019) 67% of UK consumers believe recommendations based on purchase/browsing history are unethical (RSA Data Privacy & Security Survey 2019)

believe recommendations based on purchase/browsing history are unethical (RSA Data Privacy & Security Survey 2019) Speaking of newsfeeds, did you know that around 30-40% of social media infections come from infected ads? (Bromium Into The Web of Profit – Social media platforms and the cybercrime economy)

(Bromium Into The Web of Profit – Social media platforms and the cybercrime economy) Cybercriminals are also leveraging social media to promote their hacking services: around 30-40% of the social media platforms feature accounts offering some form of hacking activities (Bromium Into The Web of Profit – Social media platforms and the cybercrime economy)

(Bromium Into The Web of Profit – Social media platforms and the cybercrime economy) No wonder 34% of US adults don’t trust social media companies at all with safeguarding their personal data (Statista)

In 2017, 53% of the most popular fraud-related posts on Facebook led to carding services or credit card fraud (RSA 2018 Current State of Cybercrime)

on Facebook led to (RSA 2018 Current State of Cybercrime) Social media phishing increased by 200% from 2016 to 2017 as attackers seek to collect information shared on these platforms to use in subsequent attacks (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

as attackers seek to collect information shared on these platforms to use in subsequent attacks (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) At least 20% of social media infections stem from add-ons or plugins for social media platforms (Bromium Into The Web of Profit – Social media platforms and the cybercrime economy)

Data breaches and leaks expose everyone, becoming the fourth most important global risk for the next decade

So much personal and confidential data has leaked onto the web that it’s becoming a societal issue. Regulators around the world are trying to find solutions for this but, until they do, the onslaught continues.



Malicious cyber-attacks and lenient cybersecurity processes again led to massive breaches of personal information in 2018. The largest was in India, where the government ID database, Aadhaar, reportedly suffered multiple breaches that potentially compromised the records of all 1,1 billion registered citizens. It was reported in January that criminals were selling access to the database at a rate of 500 rupees ($7,3) for 10 minutes, while in March a leak at a state-owned utility company allowed anyone to download names and ID numbers.

The Global Risks Report 2019 – World Economic Forum



The most affected industries by breaches targeting payment card data are retail (24%) and finance and insurance (18%) (2020 Trustwave Global Security Report)

by breaches targeting payment card data are (24%) and (18%) (2020 Trustwave Global Security Report) 32% of information security professionals admitted that breaches affected more than half of their systems more than double when compared to 2016 (15%) (Cisco Annual Cybersecurity Report 2018)

admitted that more than double when compared to 2016 (15%) (Cisco Annual Cybersecurity Report 2018) Besides financial costs, 55% of organizations have had to manage the public scrutiny of a breach (Cisco Annual Cybersecurity Report 2018)

of a breach (Cisco Annual Cybersecurity Report 2018) 17% of organizations cited losing their customers’ information as their biggest fear (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

cited losing their customers’ information as (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) Around 20% of breaches took several months or longer to discover (Verizon 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report)

took several months or longer to discover (Verizon 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report) There’s been a 141% increase in North America , a 22% decrease in Europe, and a 36% decrease in Asia in terms of volume of compromised credentials, and this is just counting the figures reported over the past year (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

, a and a in terms of volume of compromised credentials, and this is just counting the figures reported over the past year (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) Nearly 47% of data breaches in the public sector were discovered years after the initial attack (Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report)

were discovered years after the initial attack (Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report) Public institutions suffered the highest volume of attacks: from a total of 23,399 incidents, 330 breaches featured confirmed data disclosure (Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report)

suffered the highest volume of attacks: from a total of featured (Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report) 2 million identities were stolen and used to leave fake comments during a US inquiry into net neutrality (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

and used to leave fake comments during a US inquiry into net neutrality (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) 1,946,181,599 records containing personal and other sensitive data were compromised between January 2017 and March 2018 (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

$3,62m was the average cost of a data breach in 2018 (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

(EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) In the UK , the average cost of a breach is £3,100 for small businesses £16,100 for medium businesses, and £22,300 for large businesses (ENISA Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2018)

, the average cost of a breach is £3,100 for small businesses £16,100 for medium businesses, and (ENISA Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2018) The average global cost for a data breach is $7,611 (Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report)

(Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report) Breaching social media platforms accounted for the highest number of records spilled onto the internet in 2018 (56%). Facebook accounted for over 2.2 billion records and Twitter with 336 million records (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

in 2018 (56%). and (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) Healthcare records the largest number of data breaches (27%) with the most severe incident exposing 3,5 million records (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

(27%) with the most severe incident exposing 3,5 million records (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) In healthcare, 60% of attacks that target data are carried out by insiders , higher than any other industry (Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report)

, higher than any other industry (Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report) Identity theft remains the main type of data breach with 56% – as has been the case since 2013 (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019

In spite of these appalling statistics, only 17% of organizations report breaches in their information security reports (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

(EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) Another worrisome aspect is that “ 10% of the UK healthcare organizations have been breached more than 10 times in the last year ” (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

” (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) 33% of healthcare companies cite careless or unaware employees as the vulnerability that has most increased their risk exposure over the past 12 months (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

cite as the vulnerability that has most increased their risk exposure over the past 12 months (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) Command and control (C2) is the most common form of attack (47%) in data breach incidents, followed by ransomware with 28% (Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report)

is the most common form of attack (47%) in data breach incidents, followed by with 28% (Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report) 38% of energy companies admit that it would be unlikely they could detect a sophisticated breach (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

admit that it would be (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) Surprisingly, device loss accounts for around 50% of all breaches (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

(ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) Europol reports external individual malicious actors carried out 73% of the breaches , while 50% were attributed to organized crime groups (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

, while 50% were attributed to organized crime groups (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) 84% of data breaches caused by botnets in 2018 were in Finance and Insurance, 10% in Information, and 5% in Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report)

in 2018 were in Finance and Insurance, 10% in Information, and 5% in Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report) Data breaches caused by botnet attacks covered 180 countries and territories in 2018 (Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report)

covered in 2018 (Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report) 98.5% of security incidents and 88% of data breaches can be classified in one of the nine patterns information security professional established years ago: POS intrusion, web app attack, insider and privilege misuse, physical theft or loss, miscellaneous errors, crimeware, payment card skimmers, Denial of Service, cyber-espionage (Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report)

On average, stocks immediately experience a drop of 0.43% in share price following a breach

in share price following a breach Long-term effects include a much slower upturn in terms of share prices . We observed a 45.6% increase in share prices during the three years prior to breach, and only a 14.8% growth in the three years following the compromise

. We observed a 45.6% increase in share prices during the three years prior to breach, and only a 14.8% growth in the three years following the compromise Breached companies recover to NASDAQ’s pre-breach performance level after 38 days on average, but three years after the breach they still underperform the index by a margin of over 40%

on average, but three years after the breach they still underperform the index by a margin of over 40% When they suffer a data breach, financial organizations experience an immediate decline in share price whereas internet businesses (e-commerce, social media, etc.) most frequently endure long-term effects

whereas (e-commerce, social media, etc.) most frequently Larger breaches have less of a negative influence on share prices than smaller breaches

than smaller breaches Breaches involving credit card details and social security numbers register a more significant negative impact on share prices than leaks containing less sensitive info, such as email addresses.

Users are more worried about cybercrime statistics but fail to follow through with protecting their assets

Additionally, our own research at Comparitech highlights that. We analyzed how cybersecurity breaches impact stock market prices and found out that:The entire analysis reveals other interesting consequences for breached companies , both in terms of financial aspects and nonfinancial ones, such as reputation and brand trust.

Cybersecurity statistics clearly show that technology has its limitations when it comes to safeguarding assets such as confidential data and money. To truly make strides in better protection from cybercriminals and online crooks, user behavior must be improved as well.



Up to 73% of users reuse passwords across their online accounts, which inherently leads to a higher risk of password theft and credential misuse. (RSA Data Privacy & Security Survey 2019)

across their online accounts, which inherently leads to a higher risk of password theft and credential misuse. (RSA Data Privacy & Security Survey 2019) 66% of surveyed users said they simply skim through or do not read End-User License Agreements or other consent forms. (The Blinding Effect of Security Hubris on Data Privacy by Malwarebytes)

of surveyed users said they or other consent forms. (The Blinding Effect of Security Hubris on Data Privacy by Malwarebytes) Only 47% know which permissions their apps have . (The Blinding Effect of Security Hubris on Data Privacy by Malwarebytes)

. (The Blinding Effect of Security Hubris on Data Privacy by Malwarebytes) 71% of Americans worry about having their personal, credit card or financial information stolen by malicious hackers. (Statista)

by malicious hackers. (Statista) 78% of people in the UK are most concerned about identity theft resulting in financial loss . (RSA Data Privacy & Security Survey 2019)

are most . (RSA Data Privacy & Security Survey 2019) 96% of people polled for a study mention they care about their privacy , and 93% of them use security software . (The Blinding Effect of Security Hubris on Data Privacy by Malwarebytes)

polled for a study mention they , and . (The Blinding Effect of Security Hubris on Data Privacy by Malwarebytes) 42% of Gen Z stated they feared blackmail in 2018. On average, only 34% of all respondents were concerned about this threat. (RSA Data Privacy & Security Survey 2019)

stated they feared blackmail in 2018. On average, only 34% of all respondents were concerned about this threat. (RSA Data Privacy & Security Survey 2019) 75% of consumers now limit the amount of personal information they share online (RSA Data Privacy & Security Survey 2019)

(RSA Data Privacy & Security Survey 2019) And they do so for good reason: internationally, 36% of people surveyed by RSA said their personal information was compromised in a data breach over the last 5 years, and 45% of US respondents confirmed the same. (RSA Data Privacy & Security Survey 2019)

surveyed by RSA in a data breach over the last 5 years, and confirmed the same. (RSA Data Privacy & Security Survey 2019) What’s more, 58% of U.S. respondents said they’d consider divesting from companies that disregard protecting their data. (RSA Data Privacy & Security Survey 2019)

said they’d consider divesting from companies that disregard protecting their data. (RSA Data Privacy & Security Survey 2019) Surprisingly, 76% of consumers in 21 countries acknowledge the importance of keeping their account information secure, yet many still share their passwords, among other risky behaviors with their data. A further 35% allow at least one device to go unprotected and vulnerable to all forms of viruses and malware. (Symantec)

acknowledge the importance of keeping their account information secure, yet many still share their passwords, among other risky behaviors with their data. A further to all forms of viruses and malware. (Symantec) But there’s good news as well: a little over 53% of people now use password managers . ((The Blinding Effect of Security Hubris on Data Privacy by Malwarebytes)

((The Blinding Effect of Security Hubris on Data Privacy by Malwarebytes) A vast majority of U.S. consumers (80 percent) now have a home internet network . One in ten has also experienced a cyber attack through their home networks. (Hartford Steam Boiler)

. through their home networks. (Hartford Steam Boiler) 72 percent of people globally believe that connected home devices offer hackers new ways to steal data. (Symantec)

believe that connected home devices offer hackers new ways to steal data. (Symantec) But the downside is that 41% of people cannot properly identify a phishing email and are often unsure about an email’s legitimacy. (Symantec)

and are often unsure about an email’s legitimacy. (Symantec) Cyberbullying is a primary concern in the US , where 64 percent of parents believe their children are more likely to experience bullying . By comparison, only 31 percent of parents in Germany share this concern. (Symantec)

, where . By comparison, only 31 percent of parents in Germany share this concern. (Symantec) In the past year, nearly 700 million people in 21 countries experienced some form of cybercrime. (Symantec)

1 out of 3 employees risk running malware on a work computer (Penetration testing of corporate information systems: statistics and findings 2019 – Positive Technologies)

(Penetration testing of corporate information systems: statistics and findings 2019 – Positive Technologies) When penetration testers were on the field, they discovered that 1 out of 7 employees engaged in dialog with an imposter and disclosed confidential information (Penetration testing of corporate information systems: statistics and findings 2019 – Positive Technologies)

engaged in dialog with an imposter and (Penetration testing of corporate information systems: statistics and findings 2019 – Positive Technologies) 1 out of 10 employees entered account credentials in a fake authentication form (Penetration testing of corporate information systems: statistics and findings 2019 – Positive Technologies)

(Penetration testing of corporate information systems: statistics and findings 2019 – Positive Technologies) 1,464 government officials in one state used “Password123” as their password (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

in one state (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) Over 74 percent of surveyed small businesses state that they’ve never been the victim of a successful cyber attack (in contrast to other data which reports higher rates of successful attacks against small businesses). (NDIA 2019 Cybersecurity Report)

GDPR statistics

The issues are even bigger in an organizational environment, whether private or public:

GDPR came into force on May 25, 2018, and everyone rushed to comply, fearing huge fines and other legal repercussions. Did it work as expected? Let’s check what the numbers have to say.

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), for example, received 6,281 data protection complaints between May 25, 2018 (when the new regulation came into force) and July 3, up from 2,417 in the same period the previous year.

ITPro.



From May 25, 2018, to mid-March 2019, supervisory authorities in the 31 countries that make up the European Economic Area reported 206,326 cases of GDPR infringement (European Data Protection Board)

(European Data Protection Board) Issued fines totaled up to 55,955,871 EUR, most of which was the huge fine Google received in France (European Data Protection Board)

The National Data Protection Commission in France fined Google 50 million EUR on January 21, 2019 (CNIL France)

on January 21, 2019 (CNIL France) 52% of the reports have already been closed and 1% face challenges in national courts (European Data Protection Board)

28% more self-reported data breaches were recorded in 2017-2018 compared to the previous year, as a result of the mandatory reporting imposed by the GDPR (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

were recorded in 2017-2018 compared to the previous year, as a result of the mandatory reporting imposed by the GDPR (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) One of the less fortunate consequences of regulation was GDPR-themed spam:

A large number of GDPR-themed spam emails have been observed during the first quarter of 2018. This spam activity included mostly paid seminars, webinars and workshops related to the new EU’s privacy regulation.

ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018



49% of organizations in EMEA said that they were not well prepared for GDPR (The Trust Factor by Radware)

said that they were (The Trust Factor by Radware) More than 42.230 complaints from individuals have been registered across Europe (The European Data Protection Board)

have been registered across Europe (The European Data Protection Board) The privacy regulator in Poland fined a company over £187,000 under GDPR provisions for scraping public data and reusing it commercially without notifying the respective consumers (InfoSecurity Magazine)



GDPR Today

Cost of cybercrime stats

There’s a lot of data to dig into when it comes to the financial toll of cybercrime. Seeing the shocking figures below could help encourage proactive behavior when it comes to cyber defenses.

The big-picture view is that up to 0.80 percent of the world’s GDP is now being lost to cybercrime, according to McAfee.

Over the next 5 years, companies in the private sector “risk losing an estimated US$5.2 trillion in value creation opportunities from the digital economy—almost the size of the economies of France, Italy and Spain combined—to cybersecurity attacks.

Accenture

Though it constitutes a relatively new criminal economy, cybercrime is already generating at least $1.5 trillion in revenues every year.

Bromium Into The Web of Profit – Understanding the growth of the cybercrime economy

It’s perfectly adequate to feel a bit overwhelmed by these figures. Even when looking at yearly developments, the data is a compelling argument for improving cybersecurity strategies.

In just one year, the initial costs attributable to cyberattacks increased 52% to $1.1 million.

The Trust Factor by Radware

The varied ways in which cyber criminals amass these large sums of money range from massive operations to spray-and-pray attacks, the latter targeting a large number of victims in the hope that it will compromise some of them.

Revenue generation in the cybercrime economy takes place at a variety of levels – from large ‘multinational’ operations that can generate profits of over $1 billion; to smaller, small scale operations, where profits of $30,000- $50,000 are more the norm.

Bromium Into The Web of Profit – Understanding the growth of the cybercrime economy

Wondering how they manage to move these huge sums without being caught? Here’s what the studies reveal about money laundering alone:

Around 10% or more of the estimated $1,6-$2 trillion of laundered money being circulated globally can be attributed to revenues derived from cybercrime – totalling up to $200 billion.

Bromium Into The Web of Profit – Understanding the growth of the cybercrime economy

However, malicious hackers and scammers are also spending money, “investing” in assets that can make their attacks more effective:

A zero-day Adobe exploit can cost $30,000. A zero-day iOS exploit can cost up to $250,000. Malware exploit kits cost $200-$600 per exploit. Blackhole exploit kits cost $700 for a month’s leasing, or $1,500 for a year. Custom spyware costs $200. One month of SMS spoofing costs $20. A hacker-for-hire costs around $200 for a small hack.

Bromium Into The Web of Profit – Understanding the growth of the cybercrime economy

Other things for sale on the Dark Web include access to compromised systems and organizations. Price points start at “50 cents to $400 for RDP access, and roughly $1,000 to $20,000 for broader access to a compromised organization” (Secureworks State of Cybercrime Report 2018).

Marketplaces are larger than one might imagine: just 25 Dark Web sites that provided access to tools and information for cybercriminal activities counted over 3 million registered users (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)!

There are approximately 6,300 marketplaces selling ransomware in the dark web with 45,000 product listings.

Telstra Security Report 2018

It also doesn’t help that unscrupulous hosting providers enable cybercriminals to carry out their attacks anonymously by giving them access to anonymized servers and Internet access for as little as $100-300/month (Secureworks State of Cybercrime Report 2018).

While vulnerabilities, tools, and hosting that enable bad actors to exploit them can be pricey, personal data used in attacks come dauntingly cheap:

Today, account credentials may sell for as little as $0.20 up to $15 USD.

RSA 2018 Current State of Cybercrime

Full data profiles that include biographic information and payment card data, don’t break the bank either: they are advertised for prices as low as $10 to $25 (Secureworks State of Cybercrime Report 2018).



Secureworks State of Cybercrime Report 2018

A different report confirms these prices: “as of March 2018, ca. 500,000 email accounts with passwords were priced at US $90 in the Dark Web” (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018).

Statistics about current and future cybersecurity costs abound and cover multiple angles:



$2.1 trillion : The total global annual cost of all data breaches by 2019, as suggested by Juniper Research. (Juniper Research)

: The total by 2019, as suggested by Juniper Research. (Juniper Research) $1.5 trillion: The total revenue cybercriminals coaxed out of their victims worldwide in 2017. (RSA)

$15 billion : the value of cryptocurrency stolen from online exchanges between 2012 and 2017 (2018 Trustwave Global Security Report)

: the from online exchanges between 2012 and 2017 (2018 Trustwave Global Security Report) Business email compromise (BEC) and email account compromise (EAC) led to financial losses of up to $12,5 billion between October 2013 and May 2018, as reported by the FBI (Secureworks State of Cybercrime Report 2018)

between October 2013 and May 2018, as reported by the FBI (Secureworks State of Cybercrime Report 2018) $5 billion : the value of associated losses caused by account takeovers in 2017, when this type of attacks tripled in frequency (RSA 2018 Current State of Cybercrime)

: the value of associated losses caused by in 2017, when this type of attacks tripled in frequency (RSA 2018 Current State of Cybercrime) $5 billion : is the estimate for damages arising from ransomware attacks in 2017 (Europol Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA 2018)

: is the estimate for damages arising from attacks in 2017 (Europol Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA 2018) $3.25 billion : global revenue generated by social media-enabled crimes (Bromium Into The Web of Profit – Social media platforms and the cybercrime economy)

: global revenue generated by (Bromium Into The Web of Profit – Social media platforms and the cybercrime economy) $3.2 billion : this is the level that global smart grid cybersecurity spending will reach by 2026 (Smart Energy)

: this is the level that will reach by 2026 (Smart Energy) $1.7 billion: is how much energy utilities spent in 2017 on protecting their systems from cyber-attacks. (The Global Risks Report 2019 – World Economic Forum)

Other criminal groups have targeted ATM infrastructure directly. In March 2018, Europol arrested “Denis K,” a Ukrainian national and alleged malware developer, in Spain for his part in a series of thefts since 2013 that Europol estimated had cost €1 billion to banks in more than 40 countries. Spain’s Interior Ministry reported at the time that Denis K had personally accumulated about 15,000 bitcoins (roughly $120 million USD, at the time it was reported) from this activity.

Secureworks State of Cybercrime Report 2018



$44,000 – the average cost for a Business Email Compromise hack (Verizon 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report)

– the hack (Verizon 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report) $292: the average fraud value following a cybercriminals’ takeover of a consumer’s mobile banking account. (RSA)

Cybercrime was more than twice as likely than any other fraud to be identified as the most disruptive and serious economic crime expected to impact organizations in the next two years.

While financial value is a big aspect of the cost of cybercrime, statistics show there are other losses to consider as well:

Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey 2018 by PWC



40% of surveyed specialists see the disruption of operations as the biggest potential consequence of a cyberattack; 39% fear the compromise of sensitive data, and 32% cite damage to product quality. (The Global State of Information Security® Survey 2018 by PWC)

Imperva 2019 Cyberthreat Defense Report

61% of CEOs believe that security issues associated with the digital economy are far t oo big for their organization to handle alone ; they also mention that increasing cybersecurity budgets won’t solve the issue (Accenture – Securing the Digital Economy)

believe that security issues associated with the digital economy are far t ; they also mention that increasing cybersecurity budgets won’t solve the issue (Accenture – Securing the Digital Economy) 43% of executives said the actions required to remediate security incidents were “difficult and expensive.” (Verizon Mobile Security Index 2019)

of executives said the (Verizon Mobile Security Index 2019) 51% mentioned s ecurity spending is driven by previous years’ budgets (Cisco Annual Cybersecurity Report 2018)

mentioned s (Cisco Annual Cybersecurity Report 2018) Criminal revenues driven by social media-enabled fraud increased by over 60% in 2018 from the previous year. (Bromium Into The Web of Profit – Social media platforms and the cybercrime economy)

fraud from the previous year. (Bromium Into The Web of Profit – Social media platforms and the cybercrime economy) Cybercriminals manage to defraud users on mobile for double the amount they’d normally spend on a genuine transaction on the same channel: $133 – average genuine transaction value, $292 – average fraud value (RSA 2018 Current State of Cybercrime)

41% of executives surveyed said they spent at least twice as much in 2018 on investigations and related interventions as was lost to cybercrime

Companies spend money because of cybercrime in various ways. For example:

PWC

Moreover, they also pay for compromises in other ways. A report mentions that “2 in 5 companies reported negative customer experiences and reputation loss following a successful attack” (The Trust Factor by Radware).

Cybersecurity spending trends

Almost everyone falls victim to cyber-attacks nowadays. Some companies (about a third) detect attacks on a weekly basis and surveyed companies (93%) admit they’ve experienced a cyberattack in the previous 12 months (The Trust Factor by Radware).

Cybercriminals also have a type: they prefer mid-size enterprises with 5,000-9,999 employees because they’re the most aﬀected (88%) by successful cyber attacks (Imperva 2019 Cyberthreat Defense Report).



62% of organizations plan to spend more on cybersecurity in 2020. (ESG Master Survey Results: 2020 Technology Spending Intentions Survey)

plan to spend more on cybersecurity in 2020. (ESG Master Survey Results: 2020 Technology Spending Intentions Survey) 53% of organizations increased their cybersecurity budget in 2018. (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

increased their cybersecurity budget in 2018. (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) 15% of businesses have a sizeable IT security budget larger than $10 million , while 37% spend less than $200,000. (CSO US State of Cybercrime 2018)

, while 37% spend less than $200,000. (CSO US State of Cybercrime 2018) 44% of 9,500 executives in 122 countries surveyed by PWC say they do not have an overarching information security strategy (The Global State of Information Security® Survey 2018 by PWC)

surveyed by PWC say they (The Global State of Information Security® Survey 2018 by PWC) The issue goes deeper than that: 48% of these 9,500 executives confirmed they do NOT have a security awareness training program for their employees (The Global State of Information Security® Survey 2018 by PWC)

of these 9,500 executives confirmed they for their employees (The Global State of Information Security® Survey 2018 by PWC) 54% of them also lack an incident response process to help them cope with potential attacks and compromises (The Global State of Information Security® Survey 2018 by PWC)

EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019

An attacker resides within a network for an average of 146 days before detection. (Microsoft)

before detection. (Microsoft) 86% of executives believe that “taking business resiliency to the next level requires an ambitious new vision for the Internet” (Accenture – Securing the Digital Economy)

believe that “taking business resiliency to the next level requires an ambitious new vision for the Internet” (Accenture – Securing the Digital Economy) On average, IT security takes up 13% of the overall IT budget (Imperva 2020 Cyberthreat Defense Report)

(Imperva 2020 Cyberthreat Defense Report) 66% of surveyed executives align security spending with revenues pertaining to each line of business (The Global State of Information Security® Survey 2018 by PWC)

of surveyed executives pertaining to each line of business (The Global State of Information Security® Survey 2018 by PWC) Only 1 in 10 organizations can process over 75% of their security event data (Oracle and KPMG Cloud Threat Report 2019)

(Oracle and KPMG Cloud Threat Report 2019) Around 30% of companies who experienced attacks couldn’t identify the motive (The Trust Factor by Radware)

(The Trust Factor by Radware) Only 35% of organizations have cyber insurance that satisfies their current needs (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

that satisfies their current needs (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) 43 percent of cyber attacks against businesses worldwide target small companies (Symantec)

against businesses worldwide (Symantec) 55% of organizations only have reactive capabilities in place (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

(EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) However, many entities are trying to achieve more: “ 77% of organizations are now seeking to move beyond putting basic cybersecurity protections in place to fine-tuning their capabilities” (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

to fine-tuning their capabilities” (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) 41% of business executives confess spending “at least twice as much on investigations and related interventions as was lost to cybercrime” (Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey 2018 by PWC)

confess spending “at least twice as much on investigations and related interventions as was lost to cybercrime” (Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey 2018 by PWC) Organizational self-awareness is also increasing: fewer than 1 in 10 organizations say their information security function meets their needs “and many are worried that vital improvements are not yet under way” (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

“and many are worried that vital improvements are not yet under way” (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) Only 6% of financial services companies are satisfied with the performance of their cybersecurity program (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

Overall, 92% of organizations are concerned about their information security function in key areas. Resources are a key issue: 30% of organizations are struggling with skills shortages, while 25% cite budget constraints.

EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019

Some of the missing puzzle pieces include:



Better cloud security, as 53% of organizations host at least 50% of their infrastructure in the cloud (Cisco Annual Cybersecurity Report 2018)

(Cisco Annual Cybersecurity Report 2018) Upgrading to newer software; for example, 50% of local authorities in the UK rely on unsupported server software (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

(EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) Having a strategy or a program, as 53% of organizations cite their current setup and processes are obsolete in several areas, such as threat intelligence, breach detection, incident response, and data protection, among others (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

in several areas, such as threat intelligence, breach detection, incident response, and data protection, among others (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) Only 43% of the companies have an enterprise-wide encryption strategy , leaving more than half exposed as data flows through their systems (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018)

, leaving more than half exposed as data flows through their systems (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018) Lagging security awareness training – just 20% of businesses sent any staff to internal or external cybersecurity training in the last 12 months (ENISA Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2018)

in the last 12 months (ENISA Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2018) Just 27% of UK businesses have a formal cybersecurity policy or policies in place (ENISA Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2018)

or policies in place (ENISA Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2018) Human resource limitations: over 50% of organizations are “re-training existing IT staff to tackle cloud security challenges” (Imperva 2019 Cyberthreat Defense Report)

85% of companies are interested in replacing passwords with new forms of authentication (Oracle and KPMG Cloud Threat Report 2019)

with new forms of authentication (Oracle and KPMG Cloud Threat Report 2019) “ 53% are using machine learning for cybersecurity purposes” (Oracle and KPMG Cloud Threat Report 2019)

for cybersecurity purposes” (Oracle and KPMG Cloud Threat Report 2019) 86% of businesses explored the possibility of using solutions that incorporate machine learning and artificial intelligence (The Trust Factor by Radware)

explored the possibility of using solutions that incorporate (The Trust Factor by Radware) 51% of surveyed organizations are now investing more in cyber analytics (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

Imperva 2019 Cyberthreat Defense Report

Cybersecurity statistics point out that companies are working on improvements in several areas:

In order to achieve these improvements and more, organizations worldwide are increasing their spending. However, information security spending numbers show there are many differences across sectors and company sizes.



53% confirm an increase in their budget in 2018 (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

(EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) 76% added to their cybersecurity budget after a serious breach (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

(EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) Larger companies are more likely to increase their information security budgets (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

Half of healthcare and Government & Public Sector organizations say they have increased spending on cybersecurity over the past 12 months, while 66% plan to spend more over the next 12 months.

EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019



When it comes to energy companies , 57% of them have boosted spending on cybersecurity over the past 12 months, and 68% plan to increase investments over the next 12 months (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

, of them have on cybersecurity over the past 12 months, and (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) In fact, the average IT security budget went from $11 million to $15 million in 2018 , representing a 27% rise (CSO US State of Cybercrime 2018)

went from $11 million to , representing a 27% rise (CSO US State of Cybercrime 2018) The same report notice that 15% of companies have an IT security budget of over $10 million while 37% of them have less than $250,000 at their disposal (CSO US State of Cybercrime 2018)

EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019

Then there are other kinds of challenges that CISOs and CIOs have to deal with:



60% of surveyed organizations cited that “the person directly responsible for information security is not a board member” (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

Conversely,say that “plans on a regular basis” (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019).

Organizations in Technology, Media & Entertainment, and Telecommunications have a different perspective. The same report mentions that 53% of them see cybersecurity as an influential force for business decision-making.



Deloitte-NASCIO Cybersecurity Survey (2018)

Cybersecurity jobs growth

Industry estimates show there may be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs by 2021 (Cybersecurity Ventures).

The situation is pressing as it is:

Almost 70% of respondents believe that their enterprise’s cybersecurity team is understaffed, with over 20% of respondents indicating that they perceive their enterprise as significantly understaffed.

ISACA State of Cybersecurity 2019, Part 1



39% of companies mention that less than 2% of their total IT staff work in cybersecurity (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019)

mention that work in cybersecurity (EY Global Information Security Survey 2018-2019) 85% of organizations are challenged by IT security skills shortage , up from 84% in 2017 (Imperva 2020 Cyberthreat Defense Report)

, up from 84% in 2017 (Imperva 2020 Cyberthreat Defense Report) Women make up only 20% of the infosec workforce worldwide (Cyber Ventures – Women in Cybersecurity)

make up worldwide (Cyber Ventures – Women in Cybersecurity) 715,715 people worked in cybersecurity in the US in 2018 (Cyberseek)

in 2018 (Cyberseek) There were 313,735 job openings for information security specialists in 2018 across the United States (Cyberseek)

across the United States (Cyberseek) The three most requested job titles by companies in the US were in 2018 were: Cyber Security Engineer, Cyber Security Analyst and Network Engineer / Network Architect (Cyberseek)

by companies in the US were in 2018 were: Cyber Security Engineer, Cyber Security Analyst and Network Engineer / Network Architect (Cyberseek) 57% of surveyed companies are considering training their employees to improve their cybersecurity program (Comptia 2018 Trends in Cybersecurity)

are considering to improve their cybersecurity program (Comptia 2018 Trends in Cybersecurity) The average yearly salary for a security engineer in the US is $88,000 and the same role in the UK pays £52,500 ($69,139) a year (Finding your first job in cyber security)

in the US is and the same role in the UK pays ($69,139) a year (Finding your first job in cyber security) An Information Security Analyst made an average yearly salary of $95,510 in 2017 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics)

made an average yearly salary of in 2017 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics) 9 in 10 organizations are contracting managed security service providers (MSSPs) to offload at least one IT security function (Imperva 2019 Cyberthreat Defense Report)

(MSSPs) to offload at least one IT security function (Imperva 2019 Cyberthreat Defense Report) 43% of organizations use third-party firms occasionally for information security projects (Comptia 2018 Trends in Cybersecurity)

occasionally for information security projects (Comptia 2018 Trends in Cybersecurity) 59% of organizations declare that it’s too expensive to outsource cybersecurity to specialized companies (Comptia 2018 Trends in Cybersecurity)

of organizations declare that to specialized companies (Comptia 2018 Trends in Cybersecurity) 51% of organizations believe they need new or improved security policies to enhance the effectiveness of their security teams (Comptia 2018 Trends in Cybersecurity)

Cybersecurity threats, preparedness and programs by country

It’s clear from the varied outcomes of the studies and surveys above that not all countries are equal when it comes to cybersecurity and internet freedom. Many are poorly equipped to handle cyber attacks, while others are better equipped but more frequently targeted.

This data visualization delves into a number of metrics that demonstrate the variety of threats we face online, looking at which countries deal with the highest number of threats and how they fare in terms of defenses.

This map included in the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) 2018 depicts the level of commitment countries across the world have to cybersecurity preparedness. Lighter shades indicate a higher level of commitment.

Countries with a high level of commitment include the UK, the US, Australia, and Canada. These nations mobilize resources to build and implement consistent information security strategies country-wide.

Countries such as Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, and Ukraine fall mid-tier, as their cybersecurity programs are in the process of maturing.

At the same time, El Salvador, Lebanon, Sudan, the Vatican, and a long list of other countries are just initiating or establishing their information security programs.

The Imperva 2019 Cyberthreat Defense Report mentions that Spain was hardest hit of all countries in 2018, with 93.7% of respondents reporting successful attacks (Imperva 2019 Cyberthreat Defense Report).

North America is the most popular target, accounting for 57% of the breaches and 72% of the records exposed (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018).

The same report notes a 36% decrease in the number of incidents in Europe but a simultaneous 28% increase in the volume of records breached, “with UK organizations being the most affected in Europe” (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018).

When it comes to breach costs, Canada suffered the biggest direct costs while the United States had the highest indirect costs. A single compromised record in Canada cost US $81 and the same in the US cost $152 (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018).

In terms of attack geography, “the US (45,87%), Netherlands (25,74%), Germany (5,33%) and France (4,92%) were the top four source countries for web-based attacks, representing an increase not only for each country compared to Q1 2018 but also to 2017” (ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018).



ENISA Threat Landscape Report 2018

For most countries, budget and staffing are the top challenges to developing and implementing an effective information security strategy:



Deloitte-NASCIO Cybersecurity Survey (2018)

The State of IT Security in Germany 2018

The homonymous report issued by Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security notes a few interesting aspects particular to the country’s cybersecurity program.

When it comes to attack tactics targeting state organizations, email is prevalent:

The most frequently detected attacks on the Federal Administration involve e-mails containing malware. Using automated anti-virus measures, an average of 28,000 e-mails of this kind were intercepted in real time each month before they reached the recipients’ inboxes.

In 2017, German authorities detected an average of 500 malware programs in HTTP traffic each month, which were subsequently blocked.

In 2017, a total of 157 IMMEDIATE notifications were reported to the Central Reporting Office and National IT Situation Centre. Ransomware was the main topic of the notifications in 2017. There were reports of the exploitation of telephone/video conference systems for malware infections. In the middle of the year a cyber attack took place with the encryption Trojan NotPetya.

Germany has a high awareness level in terms of cybersecurity, with 92% of organizations fully aware that cyber threats are critical dangers to their operations.

Almost 90% of German companies implemented advanced cybersecurity measures, such as segmentation or minimization of gateways and malware control.

However, most companies still focus on reactive measures. The report states,“these companies report that they are particularly focused on reactive measures to respond to a cyber attack.”

It’s great to see that 97% of internet users in Germany believe internet security is very important. Less follow through.

For example, only about 30% read about information security. Just 45% of them act to keep their data safe and only 37% are quick to apply the latest updates.

In addition to these huge malware statistics targeting PCs, 690,000 new Android malware programs were detected each month during the same period.

The State of cybersecurity in Australia 2019

On the other side of the world, the Telstra Security Report 2019 provides an outlook that compares the country’s cybersecurity performance with global data.

There’s some good news coming from Australia: 100% of surveyed decisions-makers confirmed they have some level of influence over choices made for the company’s cybersecurity program, up from 97% in 2018.



Telstra Security Report 2019

This may also contribute to the fact that Australian respondents mentioned that budgets for cyber and IT security are increasing in 2019. The average budget is now roughly $900,000 AUD per year.

Australian business prioritizes security solutions such as operational technology (65%), CCTV and external video sources (61%), biometric and physical access systems (58%), and BAS, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and alarming systems (56%).

Their caution is justified because 65% of Australian businesses had their business interrupted by a security breach in the past year.



Telstra Security Report 2019

In terms of attack tactics, Business Email Compromise (BEC) and phishing attacks are the most prevalent in Australia.

The financial losses in FY2016/17 amounted to A$20 million, an increase of over 230% from A$8,6 million in FY2015/16.

Telstra Security Report 2018



Telstra Security Report 2019

In Asia, for example, the two most common attack tactics are virus/malware outbreak and employee error. Interestingly enough, Europe features a combination of both: phishing attacks and employee errors.

A notorious example from Europe features shipping container company Maersk, which fell victim to a ransomware attack in June 2017. The infection spread through its global network and impacted shipping across 76 ports.

The fallout from the attack cost them ca. $300 million and forced them to rebuild their entire IT infrastructure.

In the APAC region, companies are interested in user and entity behavior analytics (57%) and in threat intelligence platforms (56%). In Europe, DevOps for security (55%) and security for IoT (also 55%) are top priorities (Telstra Security Report 2018).

Top cybersecurity threats 2020

Reports of cybercrimes continue to create headlines around the world and this is unlikely to change throughout the year.

Here are some of the predictions being put forward regarding what we can expect to see during the rest of 2020.

The Global Risks Report 2020 from the World Economic Forum provides a detailed outlook of how things look like for individual users:



75% of consumers expect cyberattacks involving the theft of money or data to increase in 2020.

involving the theft of money or data to increase in 2020. 76% of individual users cite worrying about losing their privacy to companies as a main concern for 2020

as a main concern for 2020 76% of consumers dread the loss of privacy to governments over the course of this year.

And here are some other interesting predictions for 2020:

Ransomware is expected to cost $6 trillion per year by 2021. (Cybersecurity Ventures)

per year by 2021. (Cybersecurity Ventures) The prevalence of Mac ransomware will increase. (Palo Alto Networks)

Phishing attacks will increase in sophistication as attackers continue to find innovative ways to outsmart filtering and detection techniques. (Kaspersky)

as attackers continue to find innovative ways to outsmart filtering and detection techniques. (Kaspersky) There will be increased focus on social engineering. (Kaspersky)

The focus on social engineering will increase as other types of attacks become more difficult to carry out.

Kaspersky

When it comes to a perspective on cybercrime trends beyond 2020, the Europol Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA) 2018 provides a well-documented outlook:

Within the next five years, we can expect to see continued fragmentation of the Darknet market scene. While a number of larger, multi-vendor, multi-commodity markets may survive, there will be an increasing number of vendor shops and smaller secondary markets catering to specific nationalities or language groups. These smaller markets will be less likely to attract the coordinated international law enforcement response that larger markets invite. Some vendors will abandon web shops altogether and migrate their business to encrypted communications apps, running their shops within private channels/groups91 and automating the trade process using smart contracts and bots92. Industry and media already reports trend in the abuse of apps like Telegram or Discord, despite the provider’s efforts to curtail such activity.

Gartner predicts that, by 2020, 25 percent of cyber attacks against enterprises will involve IoT devices.

In terms of threats, the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2019 Global Risks Report highlights cybersecurity threats as one of its 5 key areas. It also predicts that “massive data fraud and theft” will constitute the 4th largest global threat over a 10-year horizon, with cyber attacks following in 5th place.

7 easy ways to improve your privacy and security online

If you don’t want to be another statistic in next year’s report, we recommend you take a few simple steps toward protecting your privacy and security online.

Antivirus

Turn on your antivirus. There’s a good chance your computer already has antivirus software built in. If it doesn’t, or if you don’t think it’s sufficient, there are plenty of free and paid antivirus programs to avail of.

Modern antivirus programs typically have two methods of finding and removing malware from your system. The first is a simple system scan, in which the antivirus will sift through every file on your computer to look for, quarantine, and remove malware. The second is real-time scanning, in which running processes and downloaded files are scanned as they appear on your computer and flagged accordingly.

VPN

Short for virtual private network, a VPN encrypts all of your internet traffic and routes it through a remote server in a location of your choosing.

Commercial VPNs are typically paid subscription services that you can use by installing an app on your device. They have two primary effects.

The first is that all of your data is secured in an encrypted tunnel until it reaches the VPN server. This prevents your ISP and hackers on wifi networks from snooping on any of your internet activity and your traffic’s final destination.

The second is that your IP address, a unique number that can be used to identify your device and location, is masked behind the VPN’s server address. This helps to anonymize your internet activity.

Most commercial VPNs group dozens or even hundreds of users together under a single IP address, making it impossible to trace activity back to a single user.

VPNs can also be used to unblock geo-locked content that’s only accessible from certain countries, such as US Netflix or Hulu.

Secure browser extensions

Your web browser is the window through which you see the internet, and it can do a lot of things, but is also vulnerable to a large number of attacks and exploits.

Fortunately, a few browser extensions can help protect your privacy and improve security online. Here is a shortlist of browser extensions we recommend:



HTTPS Everywhere – opts for the SSL-encrypted versions of web pages whenever they are available

Disconnect or Privacy Badger – prevents websites from using tracking cookies and similar technologies to monitor your online behavior

Ad Block Plus – advertisements are a common attack vector by which to deliver malware and phishing ads to users. A good ad blocker can keep them at bay.

NoScript or ScriptSafe – stops Javascript from loading on your browser by default, which prevents drive-by-downloads that can infect your computer with malware

Firewall

A firewall is an essential defense against unsolicited internet traffic coming or going from your computer.

Firewalls are installed on almost all modern operating systems and NAT firewalls on most routers. Keep them turned on and be selective about programs you allow to “phone home” through the firewall.

Passwords

Use strong, unique passwords. Task your password generator with creating random, unique passwords for each of your accounts. Relying on a password manager means you don’t have to memorize them or write them down.

If you don’t want to go that route, at least use a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols and try to make it as random as possible.

Never use the same password across all of your accounts. Never use your personal details that a hacker could figure out.

Good passwords will go a long way in protecting your accounts.

Phishing

Besides a good spam filter, there’s not much protection against phishing attempts. You just have to know how to spot them.

Don’t open links or attachments in unsolicited emails or text messages. Always look for valid HTTPS certificates on websites where you need to input a password or financial information.

If you’re unsure about an email, contact the sender by some other means or ask a question that only they would know to verify their identity.

Never, ever give out passwords or other private information in an email, SMS or instant message.

Read more: Common phishing scams and how to avoid them.

Don’t ignore security updates. Even though they can be annoying, not updating your software not only endangers your device, but everyone on your network.

Once a security update has been issued, hackers will deliberately target that software and users who ignore the security updates. So always update as soon as it’s practical.

How to report cybercrime

If you’ve been a victim of cybercrime then you can find more information about reporting it using the links below:

USA: FBI, IC3

UK: ActionFraud, National Crime Agency

Europe: Europol

Australia: ACORN

Canada: Public Safety Canada