Cyber security threats are becoming increasingly difficult for organisations to deal with, and the scale of the problem is growing. Attackers are getting more intelligent with their approaches, using a wide range of techniques such as social engineering, AI and focusing on third party IoT devices.
In this article we explore 9 cyber security statistics that showcase the growing scale of the problem.
- 95% of cyber security breaches are caused by human error.
This can be the result of clicking on scam emails, opening a compromised attachment or even reusing the same password. Cyber crime continues to focus on forcing and exploiting human error.
- 99% of security breaches could have been contained using Multi Factor Authentication
We recently released an article showcasing the importance of password security. Most attacks are based on acquiring your password to access your systems. Using Multi Factor Authentication allows you to verify the validity of any access on any device to give you confidence that there are no breaches possible.
- The average cost of a data breach in 2020 was $3.86 million
The cost to a business that does have a data breach has been steadily rising. This can be lost data, fines, damage, ransoms paid or even stolen money as a direct result of data breaches.
- The average time to identity a breach is 207 days
One of the scarier statistics in the list is that it takes 207 days to identify a breach. The idea of a cyber criminal having access to one of your systems for that length of time is a huge concern. The data they could access and the damage they could cause in that time is frightening.
- There is a cyber security attack every 39 seconds
Again, another example of the scale of the problem. With automation and AI cyber attacks are rising as the effort required to mount them reduces.
- 75% of cyber attacks start with an email
Email continues to be a weakness for organisations. It is one of the primary ways employees interact with people outside the organisation and is the gateway for attacks.
- 80% of businesses have seen a rise in cyber attacks during COVID with attacks up 600% during the pandemic.
With reduced activity across other criminal enterprises across the globe due to lockdowns, they have adapted to a digital form of crime. Unfortunately the rise in cyber crime is unlikely to go away as the pandemic loosens if they are successful.
- Spear phishing accounts for 95% of breaches of enterprise networks
Spear phishing is a form of attack, where an organisation is specifically targeted. Using names of people within your organisation, you will receive an email that looks like it has come from a senior manager. This will usually ask for some information or a favour from a personal email. When in reality it’s all fake. A very convincing and targeted form of attack that is proving effective.
- A huge rise in attacks on cloud services with Microsoft get more than 300 million fraudulent sign-in attempts across their services every single day, that is 109 billion attempts per year.
As automation is growing as part of cyber crime, this sustained daily attacks, looking for weak passwords and organisations not using Multi Factor Authentication is something that will not go away. The scale of the problem is growing and Microsoft and other cloud and SaaS providers like them are under a lot of pressure to keep your data secure, but your organisation also plays a key role.
The above statistics are getting worse every year. The threat of cyber crime is growing and many organisations are unprepared. Ensuring you have a wide range of defence mechanisms, and a solid disaster recovery plan could be critical to save your business from what is becoming an inevitable breach at some point in the future without the right level of care.
Discover our cyber security services to understand how you could improve your security today.
