Though cybersecurity awareness grows, study after study indicates escalating data breach activities against individuals and enterprises—2022 saw this sinister trend continue its upward climb globally at a record scale.
Data breach statistics show that the average cost increased by 2.6% to $4.35 million in 2022 from $4.24 million in 2021. In critical infrastructure organizations, however, the average cost of a data breach is $4.82 million. As society progresses firmly into the digital age, safely navigating its benefits and risks proves paramount.
This piece offers readers insight by examining the latest data breach statistics for 2024 and beyond. Learn crucial details surrounding prominent breach events, from root causes to victim impact spanning multiple industries. Additionally, discover expert predictions around emerging cyber threats on the horizon, along with proactive security controls organizations and private citizens can employ right now to help turn the tide against the rising data breach epidemic. Let’s dive in.
Key Data Breach Statistics
- Breaches that result from phishing take as long as 295 days to get resolved.
- Phishing attacks account for almost 22% of all cases of data breaches that happen today.
- Cloud-based Data breaches take up a large chunk of 45% of cases.
- Hospitals are not left out of the loop, as 30% of all data breaches occur there.
- A whole lot of accounting records, up to 42 million, got into the hands of strangers from March to February 2022.
- Yahoo experienced its share of data breaches when an identity thief crept into its database, carting away information affecting 1 million persons.
- Quarter one of 2022 won’t be quickly forgotten as it recorded 817 breaches in the United States.
- Up to 19% of planned data breaches were successful because the bad players got help from an insider.
- Studies show that 77% of businesses do not have the skills to help them resolve data breaches.
- Most of Facebook’s breach issues in 2019 resulted from data leakage.
Major Data Breach Statistics
1. Malware Attacks Have Risen More Than Ever Before in 2023.
There has been a rise in malware attacks today more than ever before. This is true as data shows a 2% rise in malware attacks year after year. Many experts think this trend is due to the rise of crypto-jacking and the activities related to the Internet of Things.
2. Taking Note of a Breach Can Take As Long As 287 Days.
Spotting a data breach took an average of 287 days back in 2021. The delay was because of the lack of security expertise and how complex IT has grown. The complexity at which cyberattacks have grown is also one of the reasons for the lengthy time.
3. Healthcare Bears 30% Brunt of Cyberattacks.
Hospitals, which ought to be a place of relief for many, are not in any way spared from the risk of data theft. Healthcare in 2021 suffered a heavy blow when a data breach hit 51% of hospitals. As large as 337 breaches took place in the first half of that same year. This caused a major setback for 19,992,810 people and brought the need to tighten cybersecurity in the sector.
4. A Large Percentage of Malware Comes in Through Email.
Verizon’s findings show that most of the cybersecurity issues we have seen in the past were 94% from Email. These findings stemmed from real-life situations of 41,686 incidents and data breaches, reaching 2,013 over the same period.
5. Our Errors As Humans Rear Up 88% of Data Breaches.
As humans, we are not above mistakes. Many may forget to log out from their devices, mistakenly disclose their password, or absent-mindedly click on bad links. In one way or another, these errors open a window for bad actors to infiltrate the system and steal one’s data. A study made by Stanford University shows that human errors are what causes 88% of the data breaches we experience today.
6. Ransomware Victims Doubled Between April 2022 and the End of March 2023.
Bad people often inject malware to lock an individual or organization’s system, hindering access unless they pay a ransom. Records show that the number of times bad people use this antic has doubled, especially between April 2022 and March 2023
7. Picus Security Sent Out a Message to the United Kingdom FCA on Cybercrime.
Freedom of information (FOI) was sent to the financial conduct authority of the United Kingdom, requesting the agency to look into the rising cases of cybercrime, which has been pouring in for a couple of months. The FCA had 55 cases of material cyber issues on its desk in the first half of the year 2022. Several cases of cybercrime, precisely 25%, that occurred in 2022 were from distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. This was quite startling as it was just 4% at the close 2021.
8. Data About 200 Million Voters Was Leaked Out in 2017.
The year 2017 will remain in the minds of many citizens of the United States for a long time. Up to 200 million voter data went viral online, which brought a question mark to the whole process.
9. eBay Was Not Spared From the Menace, As 145 Million of Its Records Got leaked.
The 2014 records of eBay got exposed to the public, causing 145 million of its data to be laid bare before hackers.
10. TJX Companies Inc. in 2007 Had a Breach that Carted Away 94 Million of its Records.
TJX, just like many others, witnessed a security breach that affected many records. As many as 94 million of the company’s records went into the hands of hackers in 2007.
Data Breach Cost Statistics
11. Solving An Issue of Ransomware Can Cost An Average of $5.13 Million.
Times are changing, and so has the cost of fixing data breaches, which has risen in no small way. Getting off a ransomware attack cost an average of $5.13 million in 2023. This is 13% more than what it had cost last year.
12. It Now Costs $165 Per Capita to Resolve a Single Case of Data Breach.
The average cost per capita in handling one case of breach is now a dollar higher than in 2022.
13. The Cost of Taking off Data Breaches From the Necks of Hospitals has Risen to $10.93 Million.
Healthcare has not been the same since 2020, as the cost to settle data breaches reached $10.93 million. For 13 years and counting, it has taken the spotlight in terms of ridding of data breaches.
14. It Cost a Huge Amount of $4.95 Million to Completely take Away a Data Breach that Lasted Up to 200 Days.
Casting away a data breach that lasts up to 200 days can swallow up to $4.95 million.
15. Over 50% of the Time Spent Solving a Breach Comes in the Next Year.
Most businesses can get back 51% of the money they had spent on solving a breach of data issue in the next year.
16. 2023 has Much to Bring to Mind As the United States Takes a Large Chunk of Data Breach Cases.
The country, standing at $9.48, has spent the most on clearing off cases of data breaches in just 2023. The Middle East has been following closely with the trend, with $8.07 million as its average cost.
17. A Jumbo Breach that Hits 60 Million Records Costs As Much As $332 Million.
Mega breaches, which are as high as 60 million records in 2023, cost an average of $332 million. This is low; it was $401 million just two years ago.
18. Hospitals Habitually Spend 64% More Just on Advertising After a Breach Hit.
Most healthcare centers will spend money on adverts after lying low for two years. This they do to gather more clients after the dust of a data breach has settled down.
19. The Costliest Attack Standing on the Web is Phishing, With $4.9 Million.
Phishing is now high in 2023, with costs taking up to $4.9 million to resolve.
20. Companies that Are Carefree on Data Breaches Use Up An Average of %5.05 Million.
Defiance to the rise of breaches does cost a business an average of $5.05 million to attend to an issue. This is way higher, with 12.6% of what companies that are mindful of attacks spend.
Ways by Which Breaches Happen
21. Persons Who Work Within the Scope of An Organization Are the Reason for 83% of Data Breaches.
Most breach cases in businesses are schemes plotted by persons in the system. Up to 83% of breaches in companies worldwide come from an insider.
22. Quite a Large Number of People Started Stealing Data for Quick Money.
Money is the sole reason why 95% of people take the risk of hacking into companies’ records.
23. A Total of 95% of Records that Were Breached Arose From the Retail, Technology, and Government Sectors in 2016.
Like the retail and technology sectors, the government was dealt a huge blow with attacks from data hawks in 2016. These sectors made up 95% of the attacks over that year.
Lifecycle and Average Time of Response
24. Picking Out a Case of Data Breach Takes An Average of 204 days.
Almost all companies around the globe spend an average time of 204 days sorting out cases of data breaches.
25. It is Much Faster to Identify Cases Using Threat Intelligence.
Spotting out cases can never be faster than when you use threat intelligence in our world today.
26. Solving an Issue of Data Breach With a 200 Lifecycle Can Cost An Average of $1.02 Million.
Nothing can be so frustrating as going around the case of a data breach. An organization spends an average of $1.02 million to get a data breach off its back.
27. It Takes An Average of 73 Days to Contain a Case of Data Breach.
Clearing off an issue of a breach in data takes most firms an average of 73 days.
Data Breach and Remote Workers
28. Experts Say That Remote Work Has Caused a Rise in the Number of Cyber Attacks.
Cases of cyber-attacks have skyrocketed since the rise of remote work. The remote work trend now has its downside, with 91% of experts stating a rise in cyber attacks.
29. As High as 62% of Businesses Saw a Rise in Cyber Attacks Throughout the Pandemic.
As businesses strove to get over the storm of the pandemic, data thieves heightened their means to make money for themselves. Having a statistic of 62% was indeed a cause for alarm as most saw this as a duel of the fittest. Companies were further put on their toes in securing their database as many hunts to lay hold of it.
Finance and Data Breach
30. It Costs An Average of $4.45 Million to Solve a Case of Financial Data Breach.
The finance sector, like others, year in and year out, is hit by this peril called data breach. Clearing off a case costs as much as $4.45 million today.
31. Beanstalk Farms Lost $180 Million in April 2022.
A finance site, Bean Stalk Farms, lost $180 million to a crypto raid.
32. Payments Made by Crypto Players Rose to Hit $449.1 Million During the First Part of 2023.
Attacks by ransomware on crypto were not in any way friendly, resulting in the loss of $449.1 million at the beginning of 2023.
Conclusion
Data breaches are problems that have caused many companies to lose not just money but also the public’s confidence. It has become a cause of concern to many experts looking for the best ways to curb this menace. Many people have been victimized and left to bear the brute of these attacks. None can be said to have been spared from healthcare, delivery, or social media companies. Almost all facets of life have felt the hard blow from data breaches today. The world will see less of this menace in times to come when all hands are placed on deck.
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