Cybercrime Expected To Skyrocket in Coming Years

Source: Statista

According to estimates from Statista’s Cybersecurity Outlook, the global cost of cybercrime is expected to surge in the next five years, rising from $8.44 trillion in 2022 to $23.84 trillion by 2027. Cybercrime is defined by Cyber Crime Magazine as the “damage and destruction of data, stolen money, lost productivity, theft of intellectual property, theft of personal and financial data, embezzlement, fraud, post-attack disruption to the normal course of business, forensic investigation, restoration and deletion of hacked data and systems, and reputational harm.”

As more and more people turn online, whether for work or their personal lives, there are more potential opportunities for cyber criminals to exploit. At the same time, attacker techniques are becoming more advanced, with more tools available to help scammers. The coronavirus pandemic saw a particular shift in cyber attacks, as Statista’s Outlook analysts explain: “The COVID-19 crisis led to many organizations facing more cyberattacks due to the security vulnerability of remote work as well as the shift to virtualized IT environments, such as the infrastructure, data, and network of cloud computing.”

Read more on the costliest cyber attacks here.

Infographic: Cybercrime Expected To Skyrocket in Coming Years | Statista

The Most Common Types of Cyber Crime

Source: Statista

When online platforms report on data breaches, they are often quick to point out that no financial data or passwords have been stolen. Internet users whose personal data has potentially been exposed often share that kind of nonchalance, shrugging of the threat of falling victim to cyber crime as long as their credit card data is safe.

It is important to note, however, that structured data sets tying user names to email addresses and phone numbers are a feast for scammers, spammers and other types of internet criminals.

According to a recent FBI report on internet crime, more than 300,000 Americans fell victim to phishing, vishing and smishing attacks last year, making it the most common type of cyber crime. With identity theft and confidence fraud also high on the list of common offenses, protecting personal data from getting into the wrong hands is a crucial part in the fight against online crime.

Infographic: The Most Common Types of Cyber Crime | Statista