Cybercrime is expensive on all sides. People who commit these acts often invest thousands of dollars in hardware and software to outmatch some of the best firewalls in the world and seek out vulnerabilities. Businesses pay the price in insurance premiums, increases in cybersecurity investment and a damaged reputation when breaches occur. When victims are targeted directly, they may lose money through credit card fraud or unauthorized access to bank accounts.
In late 2019, CNBC estimated that $200,000 was the average cost of damages businesses faced after a cyberattack. Here are some additional facts to consider:
- Around the world, cybercrime damages predictions should total $5.2 trillion in the next five or so years.
- More than half of small businesses faced a breach in the 12 months leading up to the report.
- Four in 10 businesses have suffered multiple breaches in the 12 months leading up to the report.
- Small businesses were the victims of cybercrime roughly 43% of the time.
- Six in 10 small businesses have no security plan to secure digital assets.
- Only 14% of small businesses have the infrastructure in place to protect themselves and their customers.
One reason for complacency is the general belief is that banks refund the money to businesses after a cyberheist, but this is not always the case. Sometimes business owners have to pay the cost of fraudulent charges on their accounts themselves. This has put several out of business.
Forbes believes that financial firms take the greatest hit overall. Damages cost them much more than a couple hundred thousand dollars at a whopping $18 million per firm on average. In 2017, banks alone lost $16.8 billion to cybercrime. They also get attacked one billion times per year. This is 300 times more than other American businesses. Somehow it still pales in comparison to the 4 billion times attackers tried to get into the USPS system in 2016 so that they could access the rest of the U.S. government’s severs.