Data Loss and Cyber Crime

Data has become increasingly important in recent decades, with businesses, governments, and individuals depending on it now more than ever. This has opened the door to even more opportunities for cybercriminals. In 2022, an increase in cyber attacks caused the global average cost of data breaches to increase by more than 2.5%.

In 2022, 75% of Americans were worried about having their personal, credit card or financial information stolen by hackers, while only 40% were afraid of being robbed.

This report dives into data theft statistics, looking at the most affected countries and industries, the different types of attacks, and tips for preventing data loss.

Russia was the most targeted country in 2022, with more than 50,000,000 breaches in the first three quarters. This also means Russia has the highest number of breaches per capita, with 34,560 per 100,000 habitants. The recent conflict with Ukraine made Russia a target for cyberattacks, as cyber warfare is more prominent than ever.

With 32% fewer attacks per capita than Russia, France was the country with the second highest data breach density, reporting 23,451 breaches per 100,000 inhabitants, with over 15,000,000 breaches in 2022. Portugal is in third place with 16,556 attacks per 100,000 inhabitants. With a host of EU countries at the top of the list, more than 46% of global breaches happened in Europe in 2022. Asia accounted for 26% and North America 8%.

Looking more closely at Europe, Russia was the most targeted country on the continent, accounting for almost 57% of all cyberattacks. France was the second most affected country, accounting for more than 17% of all European cyber-attacks. Spain is third with only 4.94%, followed by Germany at 2.12%.

The average cost of global data breaches in 2022 was $4.35 million, an increase of 2.5% compared with 2021. Six countries and regions are above the global average; the US has the highest average cost at $9.44 million, more than twice the global average.

Latin America was the region with the highest growth in data breach costs, with a 9.3% increase compared to 2021. In contrast, the average cost for South Korea, Japan, Germany, and Scandinavia decreased in 2022.

Despite a year-over-year decrease in Germany, it still sits above the global average at $4.85 million. France also saw a yearly decline of 5%, taking it below the global average cost. However, other European countries have seen increases in data breach costs, with the UK seeing gains of 8.1% and Italy increasing by 3.6%.

Using data from the FBI, Crucial has established a list of the states with the largest cybercrime losses and the most victims. Home of the tech giants, California is once again the most targeted state, with losses totalling $1.2 billion. California is also the state with the highest loss per capita at $30.70, as well as the greatest number of cyber victims – over 67,000.

Texas is the state with the second-most total losses at $606 million, which is half the number of losses reported in California. This is followed by New York in third and Florida in fourth.

Cybercrime can take various forms, but the most frequent cyberattack — accounting for 19% — is stealing or compromising credentials. At 16%, phishing (fraudulent emails or messages from thieves posing as reputable businesses) is also a common type of cyberattack — and also the costliest for businesses — with an average cost of $4.91 million. A vulnerability in third-party software is a frequent attack vector (13%) and could cost a business a huge sum, with an average of $4.55 million in losses.

Looking at the numbers of recorded cases by the NFIB (National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, a UK organization), Crucial has established a list of the most common consumer cybercrimes. Online shopping scams are the most common, making up 42.7% of attacks. At 17%, advance fee fraud, where the victim is promised an important sum of money in return for a small upfront payment, is the second most common type of cybercrime.

Here are a few recommendations to protect your data from different types of breaches.

For individuals

• Create complex and unique passwords and use two-factor authentication when available
• Back up your files to an external SSD and to the cloud regularly
• Create an image backup 
• Use a surge protector
• Update your apps and antivirus software regularly
• Always check a company's security guidelines when asked for information; for example, your bank would never ask you to confirm your details over email
• Make sure your home broadband is secure; you can discuss this with your provider
• Protect and encrypt confidential information and files

For businesses

• Identify critical data, then evaluate its access and activity
• Create and update security procedures to ensure minimum damage
• Educate your employees on data protection best practices
• Encrypt data, especially before sending confidential information over email
• Use a data loss prevention (DLP) solution to identify suspicious data transfers quickly

This report has been created by gathering and collecting data from various publicly available data sources.

Sources:

• Crimes Americans worry about most in 2022: https://www.statista.com/statistics/339735/crime-worries-in-the-united-states/
• Data breach statistics by country: first quarter of 2022 https://surfshark.com/blog/data-breach-statistics-by-country
• Data breaches rise globally in Q3 of 2022 https://surfshark.com/blog/data-breach-statistics-2022-q3
• FBI: Internet Crime Report 2021
• https://www.ic3.gov/Media/PDF/AnnualReport/2021_IC3Report.pdf
• Cost of Data Breach Report 2022 https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/3R8N1DZJ
• The state of cybercrime in 2022: What it costs and where it comes from https://techmonitor.ai/cybercrime-future/state-of-cybercrime-2022