2018 Cyber Crime Statistics

Cybercrime continues to increase in severity as more businesses take their operations to the cloud. Javelin Strategy & Research published the 2018 Identity Fraud: Fraud Enters a New Era of Complexity report, which states in 2017 alone, there were close to 17 million victims of identity fraud. Cybercriminals are using advancements in technology to their advantage and are carrying out complex identity fraud schemes to steal as much information as possible. From 2016 to 2017, the Insurance Information Institute (III) says there was a 12 percent increase in the number of consumers who were exposed to a data breach, and this only accounts for the consumers who were notified of the breach. Many consumers likely went unaware that their personal information had been hacked.

If you have yet to take advantage of outsourced IT managed services, your customers’ information is likely at risk for hacking. A single breach of data can cost you millions. The collateral effects alone — outside of the financial loss — may be potentially disastrous. Although most shareholders are aware of potential cyber attacks, your company’s perceived value is likely to plummet if a breach occurs. Negative press surrounding the breach often leads to the “sell now” groupthink concept, and once a few shareholders jump aboard that train, you may find your company headed straight for a ravine as it tumbles off its tracks. This is especially common among smaller companies that lack the corporate infrastructure to stay afloat when an attack occurs.

Approximately 85 to 90 percent of businesses’ assets are in digital form. What are you doing to protect yours? Keep reading to learn about more mind-blowing cybercrime statistics, all of which highlight your heightened necessity for cybersecurity.

Top 2018 Cyber Crime Statistics

How Do Cybercriminals Use Your Customers’ Information?

Once a data breach occurs, III says the hackers will use your customers’ information to perform the following types of fraud:

• Miscellaneous identity theft: 51.9%
• Credit card fraud: 16.8%
• Open new credit card accounts: 12.7%
• Employment or tax-related fraud: 10.1%
• Phone or utility fraud: 7.4%
• Bank fraud: 6.4%
• Loan or lease fraud: 4.2%
• Government documents or benefits fraud: 3.2%

Identity Theft by State

III also outlines research indicating that most identity theft tends to occur in Delaware. The other states sitting among the top five states impacted the most by identify theft are Michigan, Florida, California, and Maryland.

Total Financial Loss of Cyber Crime

According to the III, the Center for Strategic and International Studies along with McAfee estimate that the annual cost to the global economy resulting from cybercrime is between $375 billion and $575 billion.

Is the Business Sector Most Affected by Cyber Crime?

IRTC tracked 1,027 breaches in 2018 from January through early November. 57.7 million records were exposed. Unsurprisingly, the most affected sector was the business category. It endured 475 breaches, with those breaches affecting 31 million records.

Is the Cost of Cyber Crime Growing?

Yes, in 2018, the average cost of a single data breach was close to $4 million. That’s a 6.4 percent increase when compared to the average cost of a data breach in 2017. The IBM and Ponemom Institute study referenced by the III revealing this information also went on to outline the various costs that an organization endures after a data breach. Those costs normally include:

• Notification costs
• Implementing systems to help victims with their losses and expenses
• Business disruption
• Revenue loss
• Reputation costs

The Takeaway

For businesses, cybercrime is having a detrimental impact on their ability to keep customer information safe and secure. Through 2021, it is predicted that cybercrime will cost businesses a mind-boggling $6 trillion per year. As criminals steal customer information, including credit card numbers and bank account information, this places businesses between a rock and a hard spot — do they heighten their internal IT infrastructure to ward off cybercriminals or do they tap into an external IT infrastructure by partnering with an IT managed services provider who can handle their cybersecurity for them. In most cases, partnering with an IT managed services provider is the most cost-effective choice, particularly for organizations that don’t specialize in cybersecurity. In doing so, businesses can take advantage of advanced cybersecurity protocols and tactics without having to expand their own IT infrastructure. More importantly, it allows them to do so without depleting their resources.

So, once again, what are you doing to keep your business safe from cybercrime?