While the staggering projection that cybercrime will cost the world $10.5 trillion annually by 2025 feels abstract, the 880,418 complaints made to the FBI in 2023 alone make it a frighteningly personal reality.
Key Takeaways
- In 2023, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 880,418 cybercrime complaints representing a 10% increase from 2022
- Cybercrime complaints increased by 22.9% globally in 2023, with 88 million incidents reported
- Cyber attacks occur every 39 seconds worldwide, equating to 2,244 per day
- Globally, cybercrime costs are projected to reach $10.5 trillion annually by 2025, up from $3 trillion in 2015
- U.S. losses from cybercrime complaints totaled $12.5 billion in 2023, a 22% increase from 2022
- Investment fraud topped cyber losses at $4.7 billion in 2023 per FBI IC3
- Phishing attacks rose by 58% in 2023, accounting for 36% of all data breaches according to Verizon's 2024 DBIR
- There were over 2.6 million phishing sites detected in Q4 2023 alone by APWG
- Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams caused $2.9 billion in U.S. losses in 2023
- In 2023, ransomware attacks impacted 71% of organizations surveyed by Sophos, with average recovery costs at $1.82 million per incident
- Ransomware payments hit $1.1 billion in 2023, per Chainalysis, with a 7.3% decrease from 2022 peak
- Average ransomware recovery cost reached $4.88 million in 2024 for large organizations, per Sophos 2024 report
- The 2023 MOVEit breach exposed data of 62 million individuals, one of the largest supply chain attacks
- 83% of organizations experienced more than one data breach in 2023, per IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023
- Global data breach notifications hit 8,432 in 2023, exposing 4.35 billion records
Cybercrime surged globally in 2023, costing billions and impacting millions with record-breaking attacks.
Data Breaches
- The 2023 MOVEit breach exposed data of 62 million individuals, one of the largest supply chain attacks
- 83% of organizations experienced more than one data breach in 2023, per IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023
- Global data breach notifications hit 8,432 in 2023, exposing 4.35 billion records
- Equifax breach of 2017 still cited, but 2023 saw breaches exposing 353 million records in US alone
- 5,199 US healthcare data breaches reported 2009-2023, affecting 259 million
- 2023 saw 2,118 publicly extorted victims by ransomware, per Zscaler
- 74% of breached records in 2023 from supply chain attacks, per Verizon
- Log4Shell exploits led to 25% of breaches in late 2021-2023, per CrowdStrike
- MGM Resorts breach via vishing exposed 10.6 million guest records
- Change Healthcare breach disrupted US prescriptions for weeks, affecting 1/3 of Americans
- 2023 breaches averaged 83 days to identify, per IBM
- Snowflake breaches exposed 165 million records via stolen creds
- 43% of breaches involved stolen credentials, per Verizon 2024
- AT&T breach leaked call records of 109 million customers
- 23andMe breach exposed 6.9 million users' DNA data
- 49% of large breaches from vulnerability exploits, per Ponemon
- Ticketmaster breach via Snowflake exposed 560 million users
- 12% of breaches led to ransomware deployment, per Verizon
- Oracle breach via Snowflake leaked 2 million records
- 78% of supply chain breaches from third-party creds, per IBM 2023
- Caesars Entertainment paid $15 million ransom after vishing
- 62% of breaches cost over $5 million including fines, per IBM
- Uber breach via social engineering exposed source code
- 34% of healthcare breaches from phishing, exposing 100M records
- 2023 average breach notification time 49 days, per RiskBased
- Fidelity breach exposed 77k customer SSNs via vendor
Data Breaches Interpretation
While we're all busy updating our passwords, cybercriminals are increasingly just stealing the master key from a vendor, turning a single hack into a global data heist that makes Equifax look like a trial run.
Financial Losses
- Globally, cybercrime costs are projected to reach $10.5 trillion annually by 2025, up from $3 trillion in 2015
- U.S. losses from cybercrime complaints totaled $12.5 billion in 2023, a 22% increase from 2022
- Investment fraud topped cyber losses at $4.7 billion in 2023 per FBI IC3
- Cryptocurrency thefts amounted to $3.8 billion in 2023, per Chainalysis
- Average cost of a data breach in 2023 was $4.45 million, per IBM
- Global cybercrime economy valued at $1.5 trillion in 2023, per McAfee
- Average BEC scam loss per victim $157,000 in 2023
- Confidence fraud losses reached $3.5 billion in 2023
- Dark web monitoring detected 15 billion credentials for sale in 2023, per Digital Shadows
- Global cyber insurance premiums rose 50% to $13 billion in 2023
- Personal info theft complaints 364,705 to IC3 in 2023
- Romance scams defrauded victims of $1.3 billion in 2023
- Tech support scams reported by 18,000 victims to IC3, losses $886 million
- Cryptojacking incidents up 29% to 4 million in 2023
- Extortion via ransomware without encryption rose to 25% of cases
- Job scam losses totaled $645 million in 2023
- Darknet markets transacted $1.7 billion in cybercrime goods 2023
- Prize scams cost seniors $574 million in 2023
- Global ransomware incidents 2,209 per day in 2023
- Cryptocurrency ATM scams rose 20% to $50 million losses
- Underground forums saw 400,000 new cybercrime ads in 2023
- Non-fungible token (NFT) scams stole $530 million in 2023
- Average downtime from ransomware 24 days in 2023
- Global cybercrime compliance costs $200 billion annually 2023
- Elder financial exploitation via cyber means $3B+ losses
Financial Losses Interpretation
If cybercrime were a legitimate global industry, its skyrocketing profit margins and ruthless efficiency would be the envy of every Fortune 500 CEO, proving that sadly, crime does pay—handsomely and at an unprecedented scale.
Incident Frequency
- In 2023, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 880,418 cybercrime complaints representing a 10% increase from 2022
- Cybercrime complaints increased by 22.9% globally in 2023, with 88 million incidents reported
- Cyber attacks occur every 39 seconds worldwide, equating to 2,244 per day
- DDoS attacks surged 200% in 2023, with 8.46 million incidents, per Cloudflare
- IC3 complaints per capita highest in Nevada at 1 in 345 residents in 2023
- Cybersecurity Ventures predicts 3.5 million unfilled jobs by 2025 fueling crime
- Online predators targeted 500,000 children via grooming in 2023, per Interpol
- 1 in 10 organizations hit by ransomware weekly in 2023, per Barracuda
- Europol notes 7,000+ daily cyber attacks on EU infra in 2023
- 98% of cyber attacks rely on social engineering, per Verizon DBIR
- Malware encounters up 5% to 5.5 billion in 2023, per Cisco
- IoT DDoS attacks peaked at 3.2 Tbps in 2023
- State-sponsored attacks doubled to 1,200 in 2023, per Recorded Future
- 25% of firms faced ransomware, paying average $1.5 million, per Cybereason
- Mobile malware samples reached 12.7 million in 2023, per AV-TEST
- Cyber attacks on critical infrastructure up 380% in 2023, per CISA
- 6 million spam messages blocked daily by Google in 2023
- Botnet attacks hit 1,000 per second peak in 2023, per Akamai
- 99% of malware uses encryption to evade detection, per Zscaler 2023
- Phishing simulations show 27% click rate avg in enterprises 2023
- Zero-day exploits used in 3.8% of attacks but 40% of breaches
- CISA reported 800 vulnerabilities exploited in wild 2023
- 1.1 million unique malware samples daily in 2023 peak
- DDoS mitigation requests up 50% to 16 million in 2023
- 92% of large orgs multi-attacked in 2023, per Accenture
Incident Frequency Interpretation
Despite all our technological advancements, the world's criminals have collectively decided that the digital frontier is far more lucrative than the old-fashioned kind, as evidenced by the fact that while you read this sentence, several hundred thousand attacks were launched, a few dozen companies were breached, and an entire generation of cyber defenders wondered if they should just go into floristry instead.
Phishing and BEC
- Phishing attacks rose by 58% in 2023, accounting for 36% of all data breaches according to Verizon's 2024 DBIR
- There were over 2.6 million phishing sites detected in Q4 2023 alone by APWG
- Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams caused $2.9 billion in U.S. losses in 2023
- Verizon DBIR 2024 notes 68% of breaches involved a human element like phishing
- 300,497 phishing-related complaints to IC3 in 2023, up 21% from prior year
- Smishing attacks (SMS phishing) increased 358% in 2023, per Proofpoint
- Elder fraud via tech support scams cost $3.4 billion in 2023
- Phishing sites mimicking Microsoft increased 231% in 2023, per APWG
- Vishing (voice phishing) reports to IC3 hit 20,099 in 2023
- Spear-phishing success rate 36% higher with COVID themes in 2023, per KnowBe4
- Quishing (QR code phishing) up 51% in 2023, per Infosecurity Magazine
- BEC impersonation of vendors caused 70% of losses
- Email phishing rate 1 in 99 emails malicious in 2023, per SlashNext
- Proofpoint reports 84% employee click phishing links yearly
- Hybrid phishing (email+malware) up 45% in 2023
- WhatsApp phishing scams surged 1300% in 2023, per Kaspersky
- BEC via compromised email servers hit $43,000 avg loss
- Pharming attacks redirected 2.4 million visits in 2023, per Netcraft
- LinkedIn phishing up 127% targeting recruiters in 2023
- URL phishing variants grew 15% to 1.2 million daily
- SMS phishing success doubled with OTP requests in 2023
- Deepfake phishing fooled 35% of execs in tests 2023
- Generative AI boosted phishing creativity by 400%, per Darktrace 2023
- Brand impersonation phishing up 60% targeting banks
- QR code phishing embedded in 1 in 100 malicious emails
- Malicious SMS volume tripled to 1.3 billion in 2023
- AI-generated phishing emails evaded 65% of filters
Phishing and BEC Interpretation
Despite the digital sea of evolving threats from AI-crafted deceptions to smishing floods, humanity remains both the favorite target and weakest link, getting hooked, line and sinker, by the same old trick.
Ransomware
- In 2023, ransomware attacks impacted 71% of organizations surveyed by Sophos, with average recovery costs at $1.82 million per incident
- Ransomware payments hit $1.1 billion in 2023, per Chainalysis, with a 7.3% decrease from 2022 peak
- Average ransomware recovery cost reached $4.88 million in 2024 for large organizations, per Sophos 2024 report
- 16,243 ransomware victims publicly disclosed in 2023, per Cyble research
- LockBit ransomware group claimed 2,617 victims in 2023
- ENISA Threat Landscape 2023 reports ransomware as top threat, with 66% attack increase
- Conti ransomware shutdown led to 20% drop in attacks mid-2022, but rebounded in 2023
- Ryuk ransomware variant caused $150 million in losses before decline
- BlackCat/ALPHV ransomware hit 0.4% of Fortune 1000 in 2023
- Maze ransomware leaked data from 100+ orgs before disbanding
- REvil ransomware seized by authorities, reducing attacks by 30%
- Hive ransomware dismantled, impacting 80 countries
- Clop ransomware exploited MOVEit flaw for $100 million haul
- Akira ransomware new group hit 100+ orgs in 6 months of 2023
- LockBit 3.0 variant used in 40% of ransomware in 2023
- Rhysida ransomware earned $4 million in 2023 debut
- Vice Society ransomware targeted education 50+ times in 2023
- Play ransomware group extorted 1 TB data from victims in 2023
- Snatch ransomware hit healthcare with 20 attacks in 2023
- BianLian ransomware stole 100 GB from orgs before takedown
- ALPHV claimed 100 victims monthly avg in 2023 peak
- RansomHub emerged post-ALPHV with 181 victims claimed
- DragonForce ransomware hit 30 orgs in first month 2023
- Medusa ransomware leaked 300 TB data before exit scam
- 8Base ransomware variant active in 200+ attacks 2023
- INC Ransom group claimed 50 victims in 2023
- BlackSuit ransomware earned $100M+ post-Royal exit
- Cyclops Blink malware hit 25 orgs in Q1 2023
Ransomware Interpretation
Cybercrime in 2023 was a relentless game of Whac-A-Mole, where authorities knocking one ransomware group off its perch only created a vacuum eagerly filled by a dozen more, each demanding a multi-million dollar toll for the privilege of letting your own data go.
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