The largest reported data leakage as of January 2025 was the Cam4 data breach in March 2020, which exposed more than 10 billion data records. The second-largest data breach in history so far, the Yahoo data breach, occurred in 2013. The company initially reported about one billion exposed data records, but after an investigation, the company updated the number, revealing that three billion accounts were affected. The National Public Data Breach was announced in August 2024. The incident became public when personally identifiable information of individuals became available for sale on the dark web. Overall, the security professionals estimate the leakage of nearly three billion personal records. The next significant data leakage was the March 2018 security breach of India's national ID database, Aadhaar, with over 1.1 billion records exposed. This included biometric information such as identification numbers and fingerprint scans, which could be used to open bank accounts and receive financial aid, among other government services.

Cybercrime - the dark side of digitalization As the world continues its journey into the digital age, corporations and governments across the globe have been increasing their reliance on technology to collect, analyze and store personal data. This, in turn, has led to a rise in the number of cyber crimes, ranging from minor breaches to global-scale attacks impacting billions of users – such as in the case of Yahoo. Within the U.S. alone, 1802 cases of data compromise were reported in 2022. This was a marked increase from the 447 cases reported a decade prior. The high price of data protection As of 2022, the average cost of a single data breach across all industries worldwide stood at around 4.35 million U.S. dollars. This was found to be most costly in the healthcare sector, with each leak reported to have cost the affected party a hefty 10.1 million U.S. dollars. The financial segment followed closely behind. Here, each breach resulted in a loss of approximately 6 million U.S. dollars - 1.5 million more than the global average.

The average cyber attack takes 280 days to identify and contain and it costs an average of about $3.86 million to deal with properly.

As of January 2025, the most significant data breach incident in the United Kingdom (UK) was the 2017-2018 Dixons Carphone breach. As a result of this incident, 14 million user records were affected, and 5.6 million payment card information was exposed. The Equifax data breach between 2011 and 2016 impacted over 15 million customers nationwide.

Did the COVID-19 pandemic really affect cybersecurity? Short answer – Yes. Cybercrime is up 600% due to COVID-19.

Introduction

Cybersecurity Statistics: In a world that is increasingly becoming digital, cybersecurity statistics are now more important than ever for enterprises, governments, and individuals. The world has undergone significant changes in terms of online data storage and e-commerce, which have expanded the threat landscape. Cybercriminals have become sophisticated by using advanced methods to compromise security systems, steal private information, and disrupt operations. Cybersecurity statistics result in huge financial losses as well as reputational damages, hence making it one of the most critical elements in modern-day businesses and governance.

The global cybersecurity market has grown tremendously over the past few years due to the increasing number and complexity of cyber threats. In 2023, the cybersecurity industry was estimated to be worth around $217 billion, representing an increase of 15% from 2022. This growth was primarily due to increased awareness regarding cyber risks, coupled with numerous high-profile data breaches affecting both organizations and governments across the globe.

These cybersecurity statistics will help you understand the state of online security and give you a better idea of what it takes to protect yourself.

As of January 2025, the most significant data privacy violation fine worldwide was for social media giant Meta. In May 2023, the Data Protection Commission (DPC) of Ireland decided to fine the company with 1.2 billion euros or 1.3 billion U.S. dollars. The Chinese vehicle-for rent company Didi Global ranked second. In July 2022, China's data privacy regulator fined the company 8.026 billion Chinese yuan, or 1.19 billion U.S. dollars. The 2021 Amazon fine issued by Luxembourg's data privacy regulation authorities was 877 million U.S. dollars and was the third-biggest data breach fine as of the measured month. The 2019 fine of 575 million U.S. dollars to Equifax followed. In this incident, because of unpatched vulnerabilities, nearly 150 million people were affected, which caused the American consumer credit reporting agency to pay at least 575 million U.S. dollars.

Data breaches cost companies and businesses a lot of money. The average cost of a data breach is $3.86 million.

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.

Cloud Security Statistics: Cloud computing can bring many benefits to companies. However, they are also susceptible to being ruined because of the inability to ensure the proper security of information and privacy protections when using cloud computing. This in turn results in higher costs and potential losses to businesses. We will explore more details regarding Cloud Security Statistics in this report. Cloud adoption has risen dramatically over the last few years. Although many organizations were already in the cloud the COVID-19 outbreak has helped accelerate this transition. With the widespread use of remote work, organizations are required to provide support and essential services to their remote workforce. In the end, more than 90% of companies employ some form of cloud-based infrastructure. In addition, more than three-quarters (76 percent) are using multi-cloud deployments made up of at least two cloud service providers. These cloud environments host crucial applications for business and also protect sensitive customer and company information. With the shift to cloud computing comes an increased necessity to collect Cloud Security Statistics. Cloud-hosted applications need to be secured against attacks and cloud-hosted information must be secured against unauthorized access as per the applicable laws. Cloud environments are in a significant way from the on-prem infrastructure this means that the traditional security tools and methods don't always work when working in the cloud. In the end, many companies are confronted with major issues when it comes to securing their cloud-based infrastructure. Editor’s Choice 60% of global corporate data are stored on the cloud. 94% of businesses globally use one or more cloud computing services. It is estimated that the global Cloud Security Statistics market is projected to expand from $480 billion in 2022 to $2.297 trillion by 2032. With 32 percent, Amazon AWS owns the largest market share in cloud computing. 39% of businesses said they've been the victim of data breaches in their cloud environments. The amount of public money spent on cloud computing services is forecast to hit $597.3 billion by 2023. This will increase by 21.7 percent. 92% of companies have embraced a multi-cloud strategy. The market for cloud-based technology is predicted to reach $ 864 billion in 2025. It is expected to grow at an annual rate of 12.8 percent per year. Global storage of data will be greater than 200 Zettabytes of data by 2025. In 2025, more than 100 zettabytes of data are expected to remain in cloud storage. (Cloudwards) 89% of businesses have a multi-cloud strategy. (Flexera) 71 percent of Americans use cloud storage such as Dropbox as well as iCloud. (Statista) 48% of data from companies is stored in the cloud. (Panda Security) The market for cloud computing by 2020 is $371.4 billion. (Globe Newswire) Spending by end-users worldwide on public cloud services is expected to increase by 23.1 percent in 2021. (Gartner) With 83% of cloud users, security is the most frequent issue in cloud adoption. (Cloudwards) 52% of businesses want cloud-based solutions that include security tools. (Cloudwards)

Over 95% of cybersecurity breaches occur as a result of human error.

As of February 2024, the global average cost per data breach amounted to **** million U.S. dollars, an increase from **** million U.S. dollars in the previous year. The average cost of a data breach varied across sectors, with the highest average cost in the healthcare industry.

Some industries are affected by cyber attacks more than others. These next cybersecurity statistics detail specifically who is affected by cyber-attacks and why they are.

Revenue in the cybersecurity industry worldwide reached $146.32 billion in 2022.

The global indicator 'Estimated Cost of Cybercrime' in the cybersecurity market was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total *** trillion U.S. dollars (+***** percent). After the eleventh consecutive increasing year, the indicator is estimated to reach ***** trillion U.S. dollars and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the indicator 'Estimated Cost of Cybercrime' of the cybersecurity market was continuously increasing over the past years. Ransomware and manufacturing industry Cyberattacks remain a significant challenge for organizations worldwide, sectors such as manufacturing, finance, and insurance were the most affected by these attacks. Among the various types of cyber threats, ransomware was the most frequently detected, accounting for around ** percent of all incidents. The manufacturing industry, in particular, faced the highest number of ransomware attacks, making it the most targeted sector globally. Cybersecurity awareness and investments Organizations worldwide became increasingly aware of the dangers posed by cyberattacks, approximately ** percent of internet users became familiar terms such as with "ransomware." In response to these threats, companies invested more in cybersecurity. In 2024, the average annual increase in IT security budgets was expected to reach *** percent. In fact, for companies worldwide, enhancing the cyber resilience of their cybersecurity teams was the top spending priority in 2023.

Pay attention to the following cybersecurity statistics to learn how to protect yourself from attacks.

The WiFi Interceptor market has been gaining significant traction in recent years as businesses and individuals increasingly recognize the importance of robust security measures in an age where data breaches and cyber threats are prevalent. WiFi interceptors, or wireless network sniffers, are specialized devices des

Cyber incidents were the leading risk to businesses globally for 2025, according to a survey carried out among risk management experts in late 2024. These cyber incidents refer to things such as cyber crime, IT failure or outages, data breaches, and fines and penalties. The global cyber insurance market is forecast to grow consistently in coming years. What is cyber crime? Cyber crime refers to any criminal activities carried out through the use of a computer, a digital network, or the internet. As of January 2024, the biggest reported data leak to occur in the past few years was the 2020 hack of the online platform Cam4, which affected more than 10 billion user accounts. In 2020, the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) ranked the United States as the country with the highest commitment to cyber security. Cyber attacks in the U.S. Instances of cyber crime has been on the rise in recent years, with the annual number of data breaches in the U.S. reaching a total of over 3,200 in 2023. At the same time, about 350 million individuals were seemingly affected by record exposure. In 2023, the most common type of cyber attack experienced by U.S.-based companies was network intrusion. Network intrusion refers to unauthorized access to a corporate network.

By 2025, forecasts suggest that there will be more than ** billion Internet of Things (IoT) connected devices in use. This would be a nearly threefold increase from the IoT installed base in 2019. What is the Internet of Things? The IoT refers to a network of devices that are connected to the internet and can “communicate” with each other. Such devices include daily tech gadgets such as the smartphones and the wearables, smart home devices such as smart meters, as well as industrial devices like smart machines. These smart connected devices are able to gather, share, and analyze information and create actions accordingly. By 2023, global spending on IoT will reach *** trillion U.S. dollars. How does Internet of Things work? IoT devices make use of sensors and processors to collect and analyze data acquired from their environments. The data collected from the sensors will be shared by being sent to a gateway or to other IoT devices. It will then be either sent to and analyzed in the cloud or analyzed locally. By 2025, the data volume created by IoT connections is projected to reach a massive total of **** zettabytes. Privacy and security concerns   Given the amount of data generated by IoT devices, it is no wonder that data privacy and security are among the major concerns with regard to IoT adoption. Once devices are connected to the Internet, they become vulnerable to possible security breaches in the form of hacking, phishing, etc. Frequent data leaks from social media raise earnest concerns about information security standards in today’s world; were the IoT to become the next new reality, serious efforts to create strict security stands need to be prioritized.

Since the enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May 2018, fines have been issued for several types of violations. As of February 2025, the most significant share of penalties was due to companies' non-compliance with general data processing principles. This violation has led to over 2.4 billion euros worth of fines.