Throughout 2021, the world of cyber security continued to evolve. With this, trends that existed last year in the industry have advanced and entirely new ones have formed, leading to some startling statistics.
In this blog, we are going to cover five of the most interesting trends that you need to know for your organisation in 2022. We have tried to focus on statistics that will benefit your business if acted upon by improving your cyber security. In turn, investing in these areas will reduce the likelihood that your organisation is affected by a data breach or cyber-attack.
1. Cybercrime has risen over 600%
Thought to be in large part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, cybercrime has risen exponentially over the past two years. In particular, email phishing scams have increased as people were more sedentary and vulnerable to misinformation.
The sophistication of these kinds of scams has skyrocketed over the last two years, so it’s important as a business that you stay ahead of them. Putting in place a few measures can protect your organisation and ensure that your employees stay safe:
- Educate your employees and give them the tools they need to avoid phishing scams
- Put in place email cyber security measures to prevent phishing emails from reaching inboxes
- For more sensitive information, add additional authentication methods for employees to encourage vigilance and peer oversight
- Simulated phishing attacks can be a great way to test the readiness of your cyber security systems and your employees
- Consider investing in data protection certification to improve your business processes
2. Malware infections have risen by over 6000% in the last decade
With the advent of more advanced machine learning, malware attacks have risen dramatically over the last decade in both number and severity. Like phishing emails, malware is almost always delivered by email, so educating employees and putting in additional email security measures is essential for protecting your business.
Don’t be afraid to spend more when it comes to your email security, as a successful malware attack can cost businesses huge amounts of time, resources, and money to fix. As with all cyber security, be proactive.
3. Ransomware attacks worldwide rose by 350%
Continuing the trend of social engineering within cybercrime, ransomware is another dangerous type of attack that causes a huge amount of reputational and financial damage to businesses.
Over the past two years, there have been many examples of high-profile ransomware attacks. The largest of these in 2021 was probably that of the Colonial Pipeline in the US. After a successful ransomware attack, a large ransom payment was made to regain control of their systems. Unfortunately, in the interim, fuel prices rose across the US, resulting in rampant panic buying and fuel shortages.
Around the world, ransomware attacks are estimated to cost organisations and governments around $6 trillion. It’s a problem that affects organisations of all sizes, so it’s something that you can’t afford to ignore.
Like phishing attacks, educating your employees about ransomware attacks, and running simulations to improve readiness can reduce the risk of being affected by an attack.
4. 98% of cyber-attacks rely on some form of social engineering
Social engineering within cybercrime revolves around the psychological manipulation of targets. Often, the aim is for the victim to unwittingly perform an action or divulge some form of confidential information to the attack.
The main reason behind the popularity of social engineering within cybercrime is that it is incredibly effective. Almost every form of malware, phishing, and ransomware attack revolves around the success of social engineering.
Once again, the most effective way of combatting social engineering is to educate people. A comprehensive education programme within your organisation can reduce the effectiveness of these types of cyber-attacks immensely. An area of particular importance is the onboarding of new employees, as they will be unaware of processes and communication methods. Make sure your induction includes training in this area.
5. The average cost of a cyber-attack attack on an organisation is £815,000
The cost of cyber-attacks on organisations continues to rise. As cybercrime becomes more and more sophisticated, organisations that are affected by cyber-attacks stand to lose not only money but reputation, employee resource, time, and customers.
Regulatory fines associated with a data breach are punishing, regardless of the size of a business. On top of fines, recovering from a cyber-attack is extremely costly. Not only does a business need to return to a state at which they can trade, but they must also protect themselves in the future by putting in place a rigorous cyber security system.
This kind of reactive approach to cyber security is leading many organisations to unnecessarily experience disastrous data breaches. These breaches could have been prevented with a proactive, forward-thinking approach to cyber security.
Source: 2021 Cyber Security Statistics: The Ultimate List Of Stats, Data & Trends | PurpleSec
