Data loss and cyber crime in numbers

Data experts at Crucial.com have released a report that takes a deep dive into the impact of data breaches and data loss around the world.

 

The world has progressively become more reliant on technology, making our dependence on data more critical than ever. The increasing use of data has opened up opportunities for cyber criminals worldwide to target companies, government organisations and individuals.

 

Recent studies show that 74% of Americans are concerned about having their personal data, credit card, and financial information stolen, whereas only 33% are afraid of getting mugged.

 

Data theft is not only a concern for individuals but also a financial worry for companies. Between 2014 and 2021, the average cost of online security breaches rose by 20%. As cyber attacks are becoming progressively more intelligent, organisations worldwide keep upgrading their data security protocols.

 

A new report from memory and storage experts Crucial looks at the statistics of data theft and the countries that have been affected the most and the biggest data breaches in history.

 

Countries with the most data breaches

Despite the effort from governments and businesses in the world to increase cyber-security resources, a large number of breaches are still taking place globally.

 

The United States alone experienced almost 6.5 billion data breaches between 2013 and 2021 — representing 1,995,082 attacks per 100,000 people. The USA has a high population and is a global centre for data-dependent companies, making it a valuable target for cyber crime. These statistics show that the USA still has plenty of room for improving its data security.

 

The research ranked countries by their incidence per 100,000 people to make them more comparable between countries. The Republic of Korea took second place with a total of 243.4 million breaches or 467,957 breaches per 100,000 — almost 25% fewer than the USA. Canada ranked third with  104.1 million breaches, or 273,976 per 100,000, and the United Kingdom ranked fourth with 233,000 per 100,000 people, or 157 million data breaches over that period.

 

Average cost of data breaches

The COVID-19 pandemic, and other external factors, has been an opportunity for cyber attacks in 2020 and 2021. It has been estimated that the average global cost of a data breach has increased by 9.8% between 2020 and 2021.

 

Some countries are well above the global average cost of a data breach ($4.24 million), with the USA and Canada being the top two at $9.05 and $5.4 million respectively. The United Kingdom ranks fifth on that list with a total cost of  $4.67 million in 2021, just after Germany and Japan with losses of $4.89 and $4.69 million in that same period.

 

Canada also experienced the largest increase in data breach costs with an annual growth rate of 20% in that period, the United Kingdom followed closely with a growth rate of 19.7% and the Republic of Korea has had the third biggest increase globally at 17.9%  This sits well above the global average.

 

Despite having the biggest cost worldwide, the growth rate for the USA was only 4.7% between 2020 and 2021.

US states with the most important cyber crime losses

 

In their research report, Crucial also established the top ten and bottom five states in the USA for cyber crime losses by using data published by the FBI in 2020. Larger states have undoubtedly seen more substantial total losses and their losses per capita are higher than those of the five bottom states.

 

California, where most major tech companies are based, unsurprisingly leads that list, with losses of $621,452,320, averaging a cost of $15.72 per capita and over $200 million more losses than the second closest state; New York.

 

With an average cost of $20.58 per capita, the state of New York has the highest cost per capita in the country and overall ranks second for total cybercrime losses at $415.8 million. Texas follows in third place with $313.5 million in losses averaging $10.76 per capita and Florida ranks fourth with losses of 295 million — or $13.7 per capita.  Total losses get lower than $200 million from the fifth place with Ohio at $170.1 million in total cybercrime losses.

 

The five least attacked states in the country have losses of $5 million or less. South Dakota has been the least attacked state with cyber crime losses totalling $3,208,241 — that’s almost 300 times less than California — averaging $3.62 per capita.

 

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Crucial’s full report on cyber crime is available here: www.crucial.com/articles/external-ssd/data-loss-cyber-crime-in-numbers

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com