We hear and see enough to know cybercrime is a major problem. From major corporate breaches like the one that befell Yahoo, to the rise of ransomware, cybercrime is a concern for companies. So, how much do hacks, attacks, and breaches cost? Well, according to RiskIQ, a staggering $1.1 million is lost due to cyberattacks every minute.
Ok, I promise you I am doing the math, but if it’s wrong don’t shoot the messenger, shoot Google. With $1.1 million lost every 60 seconds, that totals $66 million every hour and 1.584 billion every day. I was going to calculate for week, month, and year. However, I think we can all agree the number is ridiculous.
RiskIQ used its own research combined with data from third-parties to assess the level of cost around cybercrime. The company presented its results in a report aptly titled “Evil Internet Minute”.
When a major corporation suffers a malicious attack or leak, it costs on average $11.7 million a year ($222 every 60 seconds to keep the theme of the report) to fix. Interestingly, companies spend $171,000 per minute on mitigations and defences.
“Cybercrime on the web is growing—attackers are learning that when they target internet-exposed assets, their campaigns have a high degree of success,” says Yonathan Klijnsma, head researcher for Risk IQ when speaking to Threatpost.. “Attacks like malvertising, phishing, supply-chain breaches and hacking unsecured servers are lucrative.”
Vulnerability
5,518 records are leaked every minute and 1,861 people are victims of cyberscams every 60 seconds. Ransomware is a growing threat, with 1.5 businesses affected each minute. The average cost of fixing ransomware attacks is $15,221.
“User awareness will always be an issue because attackers are continually tweaking their tactics to stay ahead—social engineering has been a problem since before the internet existed, and it will continue to be an issue throughout the digital age,” Klijnsma added.
“However, the real scary part is that when attackers compromise web assets, there’s often no way for anyone to possibly know, so there’s nothing a user can do to protect themselves.”
