Happy Halloween 2023! 20 Chilling Cybersecurity Statistics and Trends

As you finish carving your fashionable jack-o-lantern and stocking up on candy for trick-or-treaters, we recommend you take a moment to experience a real fright by learning about 20 chilling cybersecurity statistics. Despite improved attention to cybersecurity by small organizations, the overall threat has continued to grow in 2023.

In short, the cybersecurity threat from determined cybercriminals is greater than ever, and your organization must be prepared to face this daunting challenge. In case you need further convincing of the seriousness of this issue, we recommend you look at this list of scary statistics and trends compiled by cybersecurity experts.

The information in this article was researched and reported by: Cybersecurity Ventures, Enterprise Apps, Associated Press, TechTarget, Javelin, Gartner, Kasperky Lab, SlashNext, Hiscox, ISC, ISACA, Arctic Wolf, and Astra.

Frightening Cybersecurity Statistics and Trends

1. Global cybercrime costs are expected to reach $8 trillion in 2023 and will rise to $10.5 trillion in 2025.
2. Cybercriminals target the research and education sectors the most — with an average of more than 2,500 a week in 2023. Other industry sectors that bad actors target frequently include healthcare, communication, banking, and retail.
3. In the last six months of last year, there was a 95% increase in the number of cyberattacks against government organizations. Experts expect this upward trend to continue.
4. By 2025, humanity’s collective data will reach 175 zettabytes — the number 175 followed by 21 zeros. This unfathomable amount of data, which needs to be secured from hackers, includes everything from streaming videos and apps to healthcare databases.
5. More than 33 billion personal records will be stolen by cybercriminals by the end of 2023 — an increase of 175% from 2018.
6. 91% of worldwide companies surveyed reported at least one cyber incident or breach. 56% of the respondents reported moderate or severe impact from the incident.
7. Global cyberattacks increased 38% in the last year — with a hacker attack every 39 seconds.
8. In the first half of last year, 2.8 billion malware attacks occurred.
9. The percentage of users negatively impacted by targeted ransomware doubled last year.
10. Phishing attacks increased by 61% in the last year.
11. Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks became more common last year making up 34% of cyberattacks. A BEC attack is an email scam where malicious actors impersonate a trusted source using a spoofed, lookalike, or compromised account. 80% of organizations that fell victim to these attacks didn’t have Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) in place to protect their networks.
12. Identity fraud losses in the U.S. last year totaled $52 billion and affected 42 million people.
13. Analysts predict that by 2025, 45% of global organizations will be negatively impacted by a supply chain attack.
14. More than 75% of cyberattacks begin with a malicious email.
15. A North Korean cyberattack program resulted in US companies unknowingly hiring thousands of remote IT workers who were working on behalf of North Korea. The program funneled millions of dollars in IT salaries to the North Korean government’s weapons program.
16. 45% of companies don’t have cyber insurance to protect them in the event of a successful security breach.
17. A single cyberattack — such as a data breach, malware, ransomware, or distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack — cost companies in the U.S. a median of $18,000 last year. The median cost the previous year was $10,000.
18. In the first six months of last year, a staggering 1.5 billion Internet of Things (IoT) breaches were reported. 51% of IT teams are unaware of the types of devices connected to their networks.
19. The cybersecurity market is expected to reach $300 billion by 2026.
20. At the end of 2022, there was a security workforce gap of 436,080 cybersecurity jobs in the U.S. and 3.4 million globally. To make matters worse, 62% of organizations feel they are understaffed in terms of cybersecurity professionals, and 60% of organizations say they have trouble holding onto qualified cybersecurity staff.

Consult with a Cybersecurity Expert

After processing these alarming statistics, we recommend you consult with a cybersecurity expert like Network Depot to help you best protect your organization. A trusted IT Support partner will help you meet the growing cybersecurity threat by assessing your organization’s current security state and recommending effective tools and processes. An experienced IT partner will also provide continuous monitoring of your network and will bolster your cybersecurity defenses with updated tools on an ongoing basis.

In addition to taking positive steps to improve your organization’s cybersecurity, we recommend you actively participate in fun Halloween activities and seek comfort in amazing costumes, apple bobbing, and your favorite sweets. We hope you will enjoy a much-needed break from the stressful cybersecurity environment as we head into the holiday season!

Happy Halloween 2023!