In the first half of 2024, the share of health-related U.S. data breaches caused by hacking was ** percent, which marked a *** percent increase from 2023, reaching its highest rate since 2014.

Introduction

Hacking Statistics: In 2024, cybercrime continues to be a growing concern globally, with hacking as one of the most prevalent forms of cyber threats. Hackers have become increasingly sophisticated, targeting both individuals and organisations. The rise in digital activities has led to an increase in hacking incidents, affecting individuals, businesses, and governments worldwide.

Recent statistics reveal that hacking is responsible for a significant percentage of data breaches, which cause billions of dollars in damages. Understanding the latest hacking trends is crucial for implementing effective security measures to safeguard personal and organisational data.

Written as part of a commentary on this PeerJ PrePrint: https://peerj.com/preprints/1266/

Ethical Hacking Certification Market Outlook

The ethical hacking certification market size was valued at $2.3 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $7.8 billion by 2032, growing at a robust CAGR of 14.5% during the forecast period. The rapid surge in cyber threats, data breaches, and the increasing recognition of the importance of cybersecurity have been significant growth drivers for this market.

One of the principal growth factors in the ethical hacking certification market is the escalating frequency and sophistication of cyber threats. With every passing year, organizations across various domains face increasingly complex and targeted cyber-attacks. This has necessitated a corresponding rise in demand for skilled cybersecurity professionals who can anticipate, identify, and mitigate such threats. Ethical hacking certifications equip professionals with the knowledge and skills to protect enterprises from cyber adversaries, making these certifications highly sought after in the market.

Another key driver is the growing regulatory landscape around data protection and cybersecurity. With regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the United States, organizations are under pressure to ensure robust data protection mechanisms. Ethical hacking certifications provide assurance that cybersecurity professionals are well-versed in the latest regulations and best practices, thus enhancing the compliance capabilities of organizations. This regulatory push is likely to continue bolstering demand for certified ethical hackers.

Additionally, the increase in digital transformation initiatives across industries plays a substantial role in market growth. As more organizations move their operations online and adopt cloud-based services, their exposure to cyber risks grows exponentially. Ethical hacking certifications become crucial in such scenarios as they prepare professionals to safeguard digital assets and infrastructure. The ongoing digitalization trend, particularly accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, underpins the sustained demand for ethical hacking certifications.

Regionally, North America holds the largest share in the ethical hacking certification market, driven by its robust technological infrastructure and significant investments in cybersecurity. The Asia Pacific region is projected to witness the highest growth rate, fueled by increasing cyber threats and rising awareness about cybersecurity in emerging economies like India and China. Europe is also a significant market, with stringent data protection laws driving the need for certified ethical hackers. Latin America and the Middle East & Africa are expected to see moderate growth due to improving cybersecurity awareness and infrastructure.

Certification Type Analysis

The Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification is one of the most recognized and widely pursued certifications in the ethical hacking domain. Developed by the International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC-Council), this certification provides comprehensive knowledge on how to think and act like a hacker. It covers a range of techniques and methodologies essential for ethical hacking, such as footprinting and reconnaissance, scanning networks, and enumeration. The CEH certification's broad curriculum and global recognition make it a popular choice among cybersecurity professionals and enterprises alike.

The Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) certification is known for its rigorous and practical approach to ethical hacking. Unlike other certifications that focus more on theoretical knowledge, OSCP emphasizes hands-on experience and practical skills. Candidates are required to exploit vulnerabilities in a controlled environment, which tests their ability to perform under pressure. This practical approach makes OSCP highly regarded among employers seeking proficient and experienced ethical hackers. The certification's challenging nature ensures that only those with a deep understanding of penetration testing and cybersecurity principles succeed, adding to its prestige.

The GIAC Penetration Tester (GPEN) certification, offered by the Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC), is another significant credential in the ethical hacking space. GPEN focuses on penetration testing methodologies and techniques, including reconnaissance, vulnerability scanning, exploitation, and post-exploitation. The certification is designed to validate a professional's ability to conduct thorough and effe

During the third quarter of 2024, data breaches exposed more than *** million records worldwide. Since the first quarter of 2020, the highest number of data records were exposed in the first quarter of ***, more than *** million data sets. Data breaches remain among the biggest concerns of company leaders worldwide. The most common causes of sensitive information loss were operating system vulnerabilities on endpoint devices. Which industries see the most data breaches? Meanwhile, certain conditions make some industry sectors more prone to data breaches than others. According to the latest observations, the public administration experienced the highest number of data breaches between 2021 and 2022. The industry saw *** reported data breach incidents with confirmed data loss. The second were financial institutions, with *** data breach cases, followed by healthcare providers. Data breach cost Data breach incidents have various consequences, the most common impact being financial losses and business disruptions. As of 2023, the average data breach cost across businesses worldwide was **** million U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, a leaked data record cost about *** U.S. dollars. The United States saw the highest average breach cost globally, at **** million U.S. dollars.

This dataset contains all stories and comments from Hacker News from its launch in 2006 to present. Each story contains a story ID, the author that made the post, when it was written, and the number of points the story received. This public dataset is hosted in Google BigQuery and is included in BigQuery's 1TB/mo of free tier processing. This means that each user receives 1TB of free BigQuery processing every month, which can be used to run queries on this public dataset. Watch this short video to learn how to get started quickly using BigQuery to access public datasets. What is BigQuery .

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Objective: The rapid adoption of health information technology (IT) coupled with growing reports of ransomware, and hacking has made cybersecurity a priority in health care. This study leverages federal data in order to better understand current cybersecurity threats in the context of health IT.

Materials and Methods: Retrospective observational study of all available reported data breaches in the United States from 2013 to 2017, downloaded from a publicly available federal regulatory database.

Results: There were 1512 data breaches affecting 154 415 257 patient records from a heterogeneous distribution of covered entities (P < .001). There were 128 electronic medical record-related breaches of 4 867 920 patient records, while 363 hacking incidents affected 130 702 378 records.

Discussion and Conclusion: Despite making up less than 25% of all breaches, hacking was responsible for nearly 85% of all affected patient records. As medicine becomes increasingly interconnected and informatics-driven, significant improvements to cybersecurity must be made so our health IT infrastructure is simultaneously effective, safe, and secure.

Ethical Hacking Tool Market Outlook

The global market size for Ethical Hacking Tools was valued at USD 1.2 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 3.8 billion by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.5% during the forecast period. The growth of this market is driven by the increasing frequency of cyber-attacks, the rising importance of data security, and the growing adoption of advanced technologies across various sectors.

One of the primary growth factors for the Ethical Hacking Tool market is the escalating incidence of cyber threats and data breaches across the globe. Organizations are becoming increasingly aware of the need for robust security measures to protect sensitive information and critical infrastructure. Ethical hacking tools play a pivotal role in identifying vulnerabilities and enhancing the overall security posture, thus witnessing substantial demand from various industry verticals. The surge in remote work and the proliferation of IoT devices have further accentuated the need for advanced security solutions, contributing to the market's expansion.

Another significant growth driver is the stringent regulatory landscape and compliance requirements. Governments and regulatory bodies worldwide are imposing rigorous data protection laws and security standards, compelling organizations to adopt ethical hacking tools to ensure compliance. For instance, regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the United States mandate stringent data security measures. This regulatory pressure is prompting enterprises to invest in ethical hacking solutions to avoid hefty fines and reputational damage.

The growing awareness and education about cybersecurity threats among enterprises and individuals are also fueling market growth. As cybersecurity becomes a board-level concern, businesses are increasingly investing in ethical hacking tools to perform proactive security assessments. Additionally, the rise of cybersecurity training programs and certifications is creating a skilled workforce capable of effectively utilizing these tools, thereby driving their adoption. The expanding cybersecurity ecosystem, comprising start-ups and established players, is fostering innovation and the development of advanced ethical hacking solutions.

Intranet Security Vulnerability Scanning Tools are becoming increasingly vital as organizations strive to protect their internal networks from potential threats. These tools are specifically designed to identify and assess vulnerabilities within an organization's intranet, ensuring that any weaknesses are addressed before they can be exploited by malicious actors. With the rise of remote work and the increasing reliance on internal networks for critical operations, the demand for robust intranet security solutions is on the rise. These tools not only help in safeguarding sensitive data but also play a crucial role in maintaining the integrity and reliability of internal communication systems. As organizations continue to expand their digital infrastructure, the importance of intranet security vulnerability scanning tools cannot be overstated.

Regionally, North America holds a dominant position in the Ethical Hacking Tool market, driven by the high adoption of cybersecurity solutions and the presence of major market players. The Asia Pacific region is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period, attributed to the rapid digital transformation, increasing cyber threats, and growing investments in cybersecurity infrastructure. Europe also represents a substantial market share due to stringent data protection regulations and the proactive stance of organizations toward cybersecurity.

Type Analysis

The Ethical Hacking Tool market can be segmented by type into Network Security Tools, Web Application Security Tools, Wireless Security Tools, Database Security Tools, Cloud Security Tools, and Others. Network Security Tools are crucial for protecting data integrity and preventing unauthorized access to the network. These tools include firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS), and intrusion prevention systems (IPS). As organizations increasingly rely on complex network infrastructures, the demand for robust network security tools is on the rise. This segment is expected to maintain a significant market share, driven by the growing need to secure network environmen

The global ethical hacking service market is projected to reach a value of XXX million by 2033, exhibiting a CAGR of XX% during the forecast period of 2025-2033. The market is primarily driven by the increasing prevalence of cyber threats, the growing adoption of cloud and IoT technologies, and the rising awareness of data security among organizations. The increasing demand for ethical hackers to conduct penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, and other security measures is further fueling market growth. Key trends shaping the ethical hacking service market include the emergence of AI-powered security tools, the rise of managed security services, and the growing emphasis on compliance and regulatory requirements. Additionally, the increasing adoption of DevOps and agile methodologies is creating opportunities for ethical hackers to integrate security into the software development process. The market is fragmented with a mix of established players and emerging startups offering specialized services. Major industry participants include Cyber​​SecOp, Under Defense, Redscan, Cynance, HackerOne, SKIT Cyber​​ Security, Kiwa, Ekco, Tekkis, and BreachLock.

Between November 2022 and October 2023, organizations in the education sector worldwide saw around 872 instances of data breaches caused by hacking. The professional industry ranked second, with 603 data breach cases in the measured period. Furthermore, hacking caused 598 data breach incidents in the finance sector.

Data file used for analysis in the article titled: Why do Hackers do it? The Taxonomical Classification of Intruders into Computer Systems According to Motivation

Dataset

This dataset was created by Ajay Gidd

Contents

Financial overview and grant giving statistics of Hacking the Workforce

"This report is a collaborative research effort by the cyber security authorities of five nations: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and USA. In it we highlight the use of five publicly-available tools, which have been used for malicious purposes in recent cyber incidents around the world. To aid the work of network defenders and systems administrators, we also provide advice on limiting the effectiveness of these tools and detecting their use on a network."

Financial overview and grant giving statistics of Hacks Hackers

The Pile -- HackerNews (refined by Data-Juicer)

A refined version of HackerNews dataset in The Pile by Data-Juicer. Removing some "bad" samples from the original dataset to make it higher-quality. This dataset is usually used to pretrain a Large Language Model. Notice: Here is a small subset for previewing. The whole dataset is available here (About 1.8G).

  Dataset Information

Number of samples: 371,331 (Keep ~99.55% from the original dataset)

  Refining… See the full description on the dataset page: https://huggingface.co/datasets/datajuicer/the-pile-hackernews-refined-by-data-juicer.

Data Preview

The data available in this preview contains a 10 row dataset:

Sample Dataset ("sample"): This is a subset of the full dataset, containing data from 2023.

To view full dataset, download output_dataset.parquet. This contains data from 2011 to 2023.

  Fields

The dataset include the following fields:

name (string) year (string) round (string) statement (string) input (string) solution (string) code (string) sample_input (string) sample_output (string) images… See the full description on the dataset page: https://huggingface.co/datasets/hackercupai/hackercup.

Talk given at UCL "Cognitive Drinks" 30th September 2015

Ethical Hacking-as-a-Service Market Outlook

According to the latest research, the global Ethical Hacking-as-a-Service market size reached USD 1.82 billion in 2024, registering a robust year-on-year growth. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 17.6% from 2025 to 2033, with the forecasted market size projected to hit USD 8.02 billion by 2033. This remarkable growth trajectory is largely driven by the escalating frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks, compelling organizations worldwide to proactively identify and mitigate vulnerabilities through specialized ethical hacking services. As per our latest research, the increasing adoption of digital transformation initiatives, stringent regulatory mandates, and heightened awareness of cybersecurity risks are fueling the sustained expansion of the Ethical Hacking-as-a-Service market.

One of the primary growth factors propelling the Ethical Hacking-as-a-Service market is the surge in cyber threats targeting enterprises of all scales and across various industry verticals. The proliferation of ransomware, phishing, and advanced persistent threats has heightened the urgency for organizations to assess and strengthen their security postures. Ethical hacking services, delivered by certified professionals, enable businesses to simulate real-world cyberattacks, uncover hidden vulnerabilities, and implement effective remediation strategies. The growing reliance on cloud computing, remote workforces, and interconnected devices has expanded the attack surface, necessitating comprehensive penetration testing and vulnerability assessment solutions. This evolving threat landscape is pushing both public and private sector organizations to allocate higher budgets for proactive cybersecurity measures, thereby driving the demand for Ethical Hacking-as-a-Service.

Another significant driver for the Ethical Hacking-as-a-Service market is the increasingly complex regulatory environment governing data privacy and information security. Regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) impose strict requirements on organizations to safeguard sensitive data and maintain robust security controls. Failure to comply can result in severe financial penalties and reputational damage. Ethical hacking services play a critical role in helping organizations meet these compliance obligations by identifying security gaps, testing incident response protocols, and demonstrating due diligence to regulators. As regulatory scrutiny intensifies across regions and industries, the demand for third-party security assessments and continuous penetration testing is expected to rise sharply.

The rapid digitalization of business operations and the proliferation of emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, and blockchain are also contributing to the expansion of the Ethical Hacking-as-a-Service market. As organizations embrace digital transformation, they face new security challenges associated with complex IT infrastructures, cloud migrations, and hybrid environments. Ethical hackers are increasingly called upon to assess the security of web applications, APIs, mobile platforms, and IoT ecosystems. The growing adoption of DevSecOps practices and the integration of security into the software development lifecycle are further driving the need for continuous, automated penetration testing services. This trend is expected to create significant opportunities for Ethical Hacking-as-a-Service providers to deliver scalable, on-demand solutions tailored to the evolving needs of modern enterprises.

From a regional perspective, North America currently dominates the Ethical Hacking-as-a-Service market, accounting for the largest share in 2024, followed closely by Europe and Asia Pacific. The presence of major technology players, high cybersecurity awareness, and substantial investments in digital infrastructure are key factors supporting market growth in these regions. Asia Pacific, in particular, is witnessing rapid adoption of ethical hacking services due to the expansion of the IT and telecommunications sector, increasing regulatory mandates, and a surge in cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure. Latin America and the Middle East & Africa are also emerging as promising markets, driven by growing digitalization efforts and heightened focus on cybersecurity resilience. As organizations across all regions prioritize proactive security meas