Crime
Let's be honest, no-one really knows how much money is lost as a result of cyber crime - but there's no question it's an enormous sum. One estimate from Atlas VPN, which includes the cost of security measures, puts the figure at over $1 trillion. That's equivalent to around 1% of global GDP. Ransomware is a leading threat, affecting 75% of organisations that responded to a survey by Proofpoint. In its 2021 Global Risks Report, the World Economic Forum ranks cybercrime alongside climate change as the biggest threat facing society over the next decade.
Broken
Given the sheer scale of cybercrime, it's not surprising that 2020 saw a record number of reported security vulnerabilities. An analysis by Redscan found 18,103 issues were reported last year - over half classified as high or critical in severity. “Security professionals should be concerned about the fact that more than two-thirds of vulnerabilities recorded in 2020 require no user interaction of any kind to exploit," Redscan warned.
Cash and kisses
Alongside ransomware, criminals love romance scams and business email compromise. Losses from romance fraud in 2020 are estimated at a record $304 million in the US and £68 million in the UK. Romance scams involve fooling people by gaining their trust and, as Action Fraud warns, they can be remarkably persuasive. Trust is also the focus of business email compromise, which often employ messages that appear to come from a manager, colleague or a trusted business contact. It accounted for $1.77 billion of losses in 2019, according to the FBI.