As it fast approaches, we thought we'd give you 13 scary cyber facts for Halloween. Don't have sleepless nights, check your cyber security!
Check out these 13 scary cyber facts for Halloween and think about the cyber security of your business. What can you do to improve your cyber hygiene? Logically Secure provides a number of services, consultation, incident response and a bespoke case management tool to help businesses in the battle against cyber crime.
13 Scary Cyber Facts for Halloween
1) There is a hacker attack every 39 seconds, on average 2,244 times a day (University of Maryland)
A study at the University of Maryland quantified the near-constant rate of hacker attacks of computers with Internet access. Hackers now have password cracking tools and other automated capabilities easily to hand that require a fraction of time and minimal effort.
2) 75 records go missing every second worldwide due to cyber attacks. (Web Arx Security)
And in 2018, over half a billion records were stolen from victims around the world.
With more information being stored digitally than ever before, hackers have a huge library of information that they can try to get their hands on.
Cyber Essentials certification is an effective method to assess your cyber posture. Find out more about Cyber Essentials here.
3) The average time to identify a breach in 2019 was 206 days. (IBM)
Many companies do not even realize they have been breached until it is too late. Most companies take around 6 months to detect a data breach, even major ones Equifax, Capital One, and Facebook just to name a few. The average lifecycle from the breach to containment in 2019 was 314 days.
Regular penetration testing is key for any business to be able to identify vulnerabilities before the hackers do.
4) 43% of Cyber Attacks Target Small Businesses. (Verizon)
Most small businesses think they’re not big enough to be a target for malicious hackers. However the opposite is true. SMEs / SMBs typically don’t have the cybersecurity infrastructure, know-how or budget, making them an easier target.
These smaller businesses include the likes of; a Doctor’s surgery, a lawyers firm, and financial institutions who all possess large amounts of personal identifiable information (social security numbers, bank account information) that could be valuable to any hacker.
5) More than 93% of healthcare organizations have experienced a data breach over the past three years. (Cybint)
The medical industry is the number one targeted industry for malware. With more medical devices connected to a hospital’s network, devices have now become vulnerable to attacks. So it’s not only the handling of patients’ personal identifiable information, but the large number of attacks could also be attributed to the rise of the Internet of Things.
The estimated losses in 2019 for the healthcare industry are $25 billion. (SafeAtLast)
6) Just 31% of UK organizations have done a cyber risk assessment in the last 12 months, according to the UK Government.
And furthermore only 27% of businesses report that staff have attended internal or external training, including seminars or conferences on cyber security in the previous 12 months.
The UK Government offers advice on cyber security through the NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre).
7) More than 77% of organizations don’t have a cybersecurity incident response (IR) plan in place. (Ponemon Institute)
An alarming figure as individuals and businesses entrust most of their sensitive data to the internet. The lack of a cybersecurity strategy can lead to severe privacy concerns.
8) Share prices fall 7.27% on average after a breach (Comparitech)
The lowest point generally hits around 3 weeks after the breach. Finance and payment companies see the largest drop in share performance post-breach due to the nature of the sensitive information that is potentially leaked.
9) The average cost of a ransomware attack on businesses is $133,000. (Sophos)
There are many different ways in which a data breach or cyber-attack can cost an organisation, including; lost revenue, due to downtime and to loss of consumer trust, damage to IT systems/infrastructure, legal fees associated with lawsuits, stolen Intellectual Property etc.
10) Since COVID-19, the US FBI reported a 300% increase in reported cybercrimes.
Malicious actors pose as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or World Health Organization (WHO) representatives. The emails are designed to trick recipients into clicking a malicious link, or opening an attachment with a virus.
11) Connected IoT devices will reach 75 billion by 2025 (Statista)
The IoT market is due to reach 31 billion connected devices this year in 2020. Accenture also estimates the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) could add $14.2 trillion to the global economy by 2030.
12) The average cost in time of a malware attack is 50 days. (Accenture)
The average recovery time for a business or individual from a malware attack can be close to two months. As malicious attacks take longer and longer to resolve, the higher the cost. Time is of the essence. By having an incident response plan and tool in place the time it takes to resolve the consequences of the attack can be reduced.
13) Damage related to cybercrime is projected to hit $6 trillion annually by 2021. (Cybersecurity Ventures)
According to the 2020 Official Annual Cybercrime Report by Cybersecurity Ventures, sponsored by Herjavec Group, ‘cybercrime is the greatest threat to every company in the world, and one of the biggest problems with mankind.’
…And don’t think that all that money comes from hackers targeting just large corporations, banks or wealthy celebrities, remember individuals and small businesses are targets too. As long as you’re connected to the Internet, you can become a victim of cyber-attacks.
Some frightening figures there that demonstrate how organizations and indviduals need to make a fundamental change in their approach to cybersecurity and the reality of our modern tech-driven society.
Logically Secure provides experienced and expert security testing, incident response consultancy and management tool for businesses of all sizes.
