Hacking Statistics By Cost, Email, Social Media Hacking and Key Hacking Prevention

Aruna Madrekar
Written by
Aruna Madrekar

Updated · Oct 22, 2024

Joseph D'Souza
Edited by
Joseph D'Souza

Editor

Hacking Statistics By Cost, Email, Social Media Hacking and Key Hacking Prevention

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.

Editor’s Choice

  • Hacking Statistics in 2024 show that cybercrime, including hacking, will cost the global economy approximately USD 10.5 trillion. This represents a sharp increase from previous years, with the cost projected to grow by 15% annually.
  • In the United States alone, businesses are expected to incur losses exceeding USD 4.2 billion due to hacking activities.
  • Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are particularly vulnerable, with 43% of all hacking attempts targeting these businesses.
  • The average cost per breach for an SME is around USD 200,000, a significant amount that many small businesses cannot afford, leading to closures in some cases.
  • The frequency of hacking attacks has continued to rise in 2024. On a global scale, an attempted hack occurs every 39 seconds.
  • In the same duration, the total number of hacking incidents will surpass 5,000, exposing more than 15 billion records.
  • In fiscal year 2024, almost 67% of hacking victims were individuals aged between 25 and 44, a demographic that is highly active online and engaged in digital transactions.
  • As mentioned in Hacking Statistics, North America and Europe remain the most targeted regions, accounting for 65% of all hacking incidents.
  • In recent years, phishing has remained the most common type of hacking, accounting for 52% of all cyberattacks.
  • By 2025, it is predicted that there will be over 75 billion IoT devices, many of which may have weak security measures, making them attractive targets for hackers.

General Hacking Statistics

  • 20% of cyberattacks and hacking involve the use of negotiated credentials.
  • Every 11 seconds, new and small businesses fall victim to phishing scams or hacker attacks.
  • In 2024, human errors account for 95% of all data breaches.
  • It takes over 206 days on average to detect a security breach.
  • Over 56% of Americans were unable to take any action when their accounts were compromised.
  • Hacking Statistics show that staggering data reveals that over half of Americans are uncertain about how to respond if their personal information or accounts are compromised.
  • Globally, 78% of individuals express significant concern regarding information privacy.
  • Nearly 50% of people globally consider their personal information to be of little value to hackers.
  • Meanwhile, global spending on cybersecurity will reach USD 240 billion by 2024, up from USD 210 billion in 2023.

Current Hacking Statistics

  • Globally, cyber-attacks have increased by 28% in Q1 2024 compared to the previous quarter, with an average of 1,308 attacks per organisation per week.
  • The most heavily targeted sectors include Education/Research, Government/Military, and Healthcare, with 2,454, 1,692, and 1,605 attacks per week per organisation, respectively​.
  • The largest botnet detected in Q1 2024 involved 51,400 devices, a sharp increase from the previous quarter.
  • Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks have primarily targeted the financial technology sector, accounting for 54% of all attacks.
  • Within this sector, banks were the most frequent targets, with some attacks reaching up to 220,000 requests per second.
  • Remote Access Tools (RATs) were involved in 32% of successful attacks on organisations.
  • Additionally, deepfake technology was used in high-profile attacks, such as the USD 25 million heist in Hong Kong, where attackers used fake video meetings to trick employees into transferring funds​.

Hacking Statistics By Cost

Hacking Statistics By Cost(Reference: cdn.statcdn.com)

  • According to projections from Statista’s Market Insights, the global financial impact of cybercrime, including hacking, is anticipated to escalate dramatically, climbing from USD 9.22 trillion in 2024 to last year, resulting in USD 8.15 trillion.
  • The cost of hacking will be USD 9.22 trillion by 2025, followed by 2026 (USD 11.36 trillion), 2027 (USD 12.43 trillion), and 2028 (USD 13.82 trillion).

Types Of Hacking Statistics

  • In the fiscal year 2024, phishing has remained the most common type of hacking, accounting for 52% of all cyberattacks.
  • The success rate of phishing attacks is concerning, with 30% of recipients opening phishing emails and 12% clicking on malicious links.
  • Ransomware is another significant threat, and it is expected that 75% of organisations worldwide will experience a ransomware attack in 2024.
  • Hacking Statistics further state that the ransom demands have increased, with the average ransom payment now exceeding USD 500,000.
  • In Q1 2024, 142 ransomware attacks were recorded, affecting 17.6 million records.
  • In the United States, the total ransomware payments for 2024 will reach USD 1.4 billion.
  • Social engineering attacks are also on the rise, with hackers exploiting human psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities. There has been a 27% increase compared to 2023.

Ransomware Attack Statistics

  • In Q1 2024, North America emerged as the most affected region by ransomware attacks, representing 59% of nearly 1,000 reported incidents.
  • Based on Hacking Statistics, the Manufacturing sector emerged as the most affected industry worldwide, representing 29% of all documented ransomware incidents.

Ransomware Statistics by other regions and industries in Q1 2024 are analysed in the table below:

RegionShare of Published Ransomware Attacks (YoY%)
North America59% (+16%)
Europe24% (+64%)
APAC12% (-13%)
Latin America4% (+14%)
Africa1% (+18%)
Industry
Manufacturing29% (+96%)
Healthcare11% (+63%)
Retail/Wholesale8% (-4%)
Finance/Banking6% (+22%)
Transportation5% (+28%)
Education/Research5% (-7%)
Insurance/Legal5% (+49%)
Communications4% (+177%)
Software vendor3% (-61%)
Government/Military3% (-40%)

Phishing Attack Statistics

  • Phishing remains one of the most common methods used by hackers. It is estimated that phishing causes a financial loss of about USD 17,700 every minute globally.
  • Hacking Statistics further states that the U.S. is the most targeted country, with 55.9% of global phishing attacks aimed at American-based organisations.
  • Similarly, the United Kingdom and India also see high levels of phishing activity, with 5.6% and 3.9% of global phishing attacks, respectively.
  • In both Europe and Latin America, phishing accounts for approximately 47% of all phishing attacks.
  • In 2024, the finance and insurance sectors experienced a staggering 393% increase in phishing attacks from the previous year.
  • Phishing attacks are responsible for 60% of all cyberattacks in the energy industry, making it one of the most vulnerable sectors.
  • The average cost of a data breach in this sector is $4.35 million, reflecting the sensitive nature of healthcare data​.

Statistics On Email And Social Media Hacking

Statistics On Email and Social Media Hacking(Source: techreport.com)

  • As mentioned in Hacking Statistics, a staggering 94% of malicious content infiltrates our defences via email, turning our inboxes into virtual battlegrounds.
  • The recognisable brand and company names are used by 55% of hackers to trick out customers.
  • Attachments in those deceptive emails frequently have file extensions like .doc or .exe, accounting for approximately 37%.
  • Around 30% of people accidentally open phishing emails without realising it.
  • About 11% of social media users have deleted their social media accounts because they’re concerned about privacy.

IoT Hacking Statistics

IoT Hacking Statistics(Reference: techreport.com)

  • Hacking Statistics: In fiscal year 2024, around 33% of attacks on IoT devices may impact critical operations, followed by 32% lack of skilled personnel to implement IoT security.
  • Furthermore, other IoT hacking Statistics are followed by 31% protecting sensitive data generated by an IoT device (encryption, tokenisation), 27% (identifying or discovering sensitive data), 27% (loss or theft of IoT devices), 26% (privacy violations related to data generated by an IoT device), 26% (lack of security frameworks and controls within the IoT environment), 25% (lack of industry standards for securing IoT devices), 7% (validating the integrity of data collected by IoT devices), and 2% (privileged users access to IoT devices).

Website Hacking Statistics

  • It is projected that around 12.4 million websites will be hacked globally by the end of 2024, reflecting a significant increase in cyberattacks.
  • As per Hacking Statistics, on average, around 30,000 new websites are hacked every day.
  • The top 10 best websites to practice hacking are TryHackMe, Hack The Box, Root Me, Hack This Site, OverTheWire, PicoCTF, CTFLearn, RingZer0, SANS Cyber Aces, and EvilZone.

Growth Hacking Statistics

  • As of 2024, each month, 53,000 people search for ‘growth hacking’ on Google.
  • Growth hacking is most popular in France, and in 2024, around 8,200 people in France searched for ‘growth hacking’ on Google every month. Brazil comes next with 7,500 searches each month, and the United States follows with 3,500 monthly searches.
  • Using automated emails, WhatsApp, or Messenger messages can boost lead conversions by 900%.
  • Hacking Statistics further elaborates that if you search for “growth hacking blogs” on Google as of April 10, 2024, you’ll get about 18.9 million results in just 0.35 seconds. Searching for “growth hacking” alone will give you around 260 million results in 0.29 seconds.
  • “What is growth hacking?” If you search on Google, there are over 193 million websites, resulting in 193,000,000 search results in 0.27 seconds.
  • In 2024, Social media has 5.17 billion users globally, making it a big part of growth hacking.
  • In the same duration, email marketing is a useful strategy in growth hacking campaigns because globally, there are 4.5 billion email users, and this number will reach 4.8 billion by 2027.

How To Protect Account From Hacking?

Measures People Take to Protect Their Accounts from Hacking(Source: financesonline.com)

  • Hacking Statistics also elaborates that almost 69% of people preferred to create strong passwords for financial accounts.
  • Some extra security steps are being included to protect their accounts by 54% of people.
  • A password manager is also used by 24% of American adults.

Key Hacking Prevention Statistics

  • Global spending on cybersecurity will reach USD 300 billion in 2024, up from USD 150 billion in 2020.
  • Hacking Statistics show that it is supposed that approximately 12.4 million websites will be hacked globally.
  • Additionally, mobile devices are a significant target, with 5.26 million hacking attempts projected by the end of 2024.
  • Approximately 78% of organisations globally have implemented MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication), which significantly reduces the risk of unauthorised access.
  • As shown in Hacking Statistics, the implementation of Zero-Trust Architecture (ZTA) has dramatically increased, with 79% of critical infrastructure organisations adopting this approach.
  • Around 90% of companies now conduct regular cybersecurity training sessions, focusing on social engineering threats like phishing.

Conclusion

These hacking statistics highlight the urgent need for robust cybersecurity measures, as the financial and personal impacts of hacking can be devastating. As technology advances, so too must our strategies for defending against these attacks.

Individuals and organisations need to stay informed about the latest trends in hacking and invest in comprehensive security solutions. Vigilance, education, and proactive security practices are key to mitigating the risks associated with hacking in today’s digital world.

FAQ.

What is hacking?

Hacking is unauthorised access to computer systems, networks, or data, often with the intent to steal information, disrupt services, or cause damage.

Who are the most common targets of hacking?

Hackers often target businesses, government agencies, and individuals.

What types of hacking are most prevalent?

The most common types of hacking include phishing attacks, ransomware, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, and malware infections.

What should I do if I’ve been hacked?

If anyone suspects that their account has been hacked, then immediately change their passwords, enable security features like multi-factor authentication, and consult cybersecurity professionals for further assistance.

Aruna Madrekar
Aruna Madrekar

Aruna is an editor at Sci-Tech Today with a strong knowledge of SEO. She is skilled at writing and editing articles that are helpful and interesting to readers. Aruna also creates charts and graphs to embed in the articles, making them easier to understand. Her work helps Sci-Tech Today reach a large audience and share valuable information.

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