Cybercrime costs an estimated 2.1% of global GDP each year. At the same time, nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults now use social media, expanding the digital attack surface. These statistics connect the pressures of widespread technology adoption with the evolving landscape of security threats.
Key Takeaways
- 78.5% of adults in the United States reported using the internet (2021)
- 3.65 billion people were social media users worldwide in 2022
- 2.7 billion people use at least one social media platform monthly (2023 estimate)
- 73% of companies have adopted cloud services (2023)
- 55% of organizations report using at least one SaaS application (2023)
- 41% of businesses use generative AI at work (2023)
- 25% year-over-year growth in global public cloud services revenue (2023 vs. 2022)
- $679 billion global public cloud end-user spending in 2024 (forecast)
- $594 billion global public cloud end-user spending in 2023 (forecast)
- 2.1% global GDP loss attributed to cybercrime costs (annual estimate)
- 40% of breaches involve compromised credentials (2023)
- 39% of breaches involved phishing (2023)
- 53% of organizations say they reduced incident response time using SOAR (2022)
- 53% of breaches originate from the initial compromise vector (2023 DBIR pattern)
- 88% of breaches involve stolen credentials (2023 estimate)
Nearly all organizations now face financially driven breaches, with human error, stolen credentials, and cloud growth shaping cybersecurity.
Related reading
01 · Category
User Adoption14 stats
01
78.5% of adults in the United States reported using the internet (2021)https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/internet-broadband/
02
3.65 billion people were social media users worldwide in 2022https://www.datareportal.com/reports/digital-2022-global-overview-report
03
2.7 billion people use at least one social media platform monthly (2023 estimate)https://datareportal.com/social-media-users
04
67% of adults in the United States own a smartphone (2021)https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/
05
92% of U.S. adults used a smartphone at least once (2021)https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/
06
88% of U.S. adults own a mobile phone (2021)https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/
07
74% of U.S. adults use social media (2021)https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/
08
39% of U.S. adults use social media “almost constantly” (2021)https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/
09
20% of organizations report using cloud-based DLP (2023 survey)https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/4034849
10
30% of organizations have adopted zero trust architectures (2022)https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2022-11-17-gartner-says-zero-trust-initiative-to-grow-51-percent-by-2026
11
51% of organizations plan to increase use of zero trust in the next 2 years (2022)https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2022-11-17-gartner-says-zero-trust-initiative-to-grow-51-percent-by-2026
12
45% of organizations use EDR (endpoint detection and response) (2022)https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-07-20-gartner-survey-finds-45-percent-of-organizations-use-edr
13
60% of organizations use SIEM (2022)https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2022-06-27-gartner-forecast-siem-market-to-grow
14
42% of adults in the United States use location-based services (2021)https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
With 74% of U.S. adults using social media in 2021 and 67% owning smartphones, nearly everything about modern life is already mobile and social, while only 20% of organizations use cloud-based DLP and 30% have adopted zero trust, showing a clear security gap despite growing technology use.
02 · Category
Industry Trends16 stats
01
73% of companies have adopted cloud services (2023)https://www.statista.com/statistics/893453/cloud-adoption-worldwide-by-industry/
02
55% of organizations report using at least one SaaS application (2023)https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-09-27-gartner-survey-finds-55-percent-of-organizations-use-saas
03
41% of businesses use generative AI at work (2023)https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index
04
49% of organizations report having implemented security automation (2022)https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
05
13.8% of global data is stored in the cloud (2020)https://www.statista.com/statistics/490090/share-of-data-stored-in-cloud-by-region/
06
61% of breaches are financially motivated (2023 DBIR)https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
07
80% of data breaches involve human element (2022 IBM X-Force report)https://www.ibm.com/security/data-breach
08
16% increase in cloud breach frequency in 2023 (trend estimate)https://cloudsecurityalliance.org/research/
09
2.5x increase in API attacks since 2020 (forecasted trend)https://www.incapsula.com/blog/api-attacks-growth
10
13% of enterprises use RPA (Robotic Process Automation) (2022)https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2022-11-07-gartner-rpa-market-to-grow-20
11
13.1% share of global population aged 60+ in 2020https://population.un.org/dataportal/data/indicators/275/
12
785 million people lack basic drinking water services (WHO/UNICEF 2022 update)https://washdata.org/data/household
13
9.2% of global population experiences food insecurity (2022)https://www.fao.org/state-of-food-security-nutrition/en/
14
28% of breaches involve privilege misuse (2023)https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
15
24% of breaches involve web application attacks (2023)https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
16
33% of breaches involve using stolen data (2023)https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
In 2023, while 73% of companies have adopted cloud services and 55% use at least one SaaS application, breaches are becoming more dangerous and frequent as 61% are financially motivated and cloud breach frequency rose 16% in 2023.
03 · Category
Market Size26 stats
01
25% year-over-year growth in global public cloud services revenue (2023 vs. 2022)https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-02-20-gartner-forecast-worldwide-public-cloud-end-user-spending-to-grow-20-percent-in-2024
02
$679 billion global public cloud end-user spending in 2024 (forecast)https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-02-20-gartner-forecast-worldwide-public-cloud-end-user-spending-to-grow-20-percent-in-2024
03
$594 billion global public cloud end-user spending in 2023 (forecast)https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-02-20-gartner-forecast-worldwide-public-cloud-end-user-spending-to-grow-20-percent-in-2024
04
$466.7 billion global cloud infrastructure and platform services revenue (2022)https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=US48943622
05
$100.6 billion global cloud application services revenue (2022)https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=US48943422
06
$14.4 billion global cloud security services revenue (2022)https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=US48006422
07
$7.9 billion global market for identity and access management tools (2022)https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-07-20-gartner-says-global-identity-and-access-management-markets-to-grow
08
$33 billion global IT spending on cybersecurity in 2022https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-10-10-gartner-forecast-cybersecurity-spending-to-exceed-170-billion-in-2024
09
$170.4 billion global cybersecurity spending in 2024 (forecast)https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-10-10-gartner-forecast-cybersecurity-spending-to-exceed-170-billion-in-2024
10
$274 billion worldwide spend on IT services in 2023 (forecast)https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2022-10-31-gartner-forecasts-it-services-spending-to-grow-5-2-percent-in-2023
11
$1.8 trillion expected worldwide IT spending in 2026 (forecast)https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-04-18-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-it-spending-to-reach-5-3-trillion-in-2024
12
$10.3 billion enterprise RPA software market size (2022 forecast)https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=US48942722
13
$23.2 billion global RPA market by 2026 (forecast)https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-05-17-gartner-forecasts-robotic-process-automation-to-reach
14
$27.0 billion global workflow automation market size (2023 forecast)https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=US48865722
15
$2.6 billion global DevSecOps market size (2022)https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2022-10-25-gartner-says-devsecops-will-reach
16
$31.7 billion global cloud-native security market size (2023 forecast)https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=US48963422
17
$1.1 billion cloud security tooling segment in 2020 (estimate)https://www.statista.com/statistics/1090379/cloud-security-market-size/
18
$83 billion global privacy software market (2023 forecast)https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/4008885
19
17.3 million people received mental health services in 2019 in the U.S.https://www.samhsa.gov/data/data-we-collect/nsduh-national-survey-drug-use-and-health
20
16% of U.S. adults had at least one depressive episode in 2022https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db466.htm
21
193 million people in the U.S. are food insecure at some point in a year (2022 estimate)https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us.aspx
22
1.7 million measles cases reported globally in 2023 (WHO)https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/measles
23
3.4 million deaths due to malaria in 2022 (WHO estimate)https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria
24
$118.0 billion global pharmaceuticals and medical products exports (2022)https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/merch_trade_stat_e.htm
25
$6.3 billion global telemedicine market size (2020)https://www.statista.com/statistics/1097496/global-telemedicine-market-size/
26
$24.4 billion global telemedicine market size (2028 forecast)https://www.statista.com/statistics/1097496/global-telemedicine-market-size/
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
With public cloud end user spending projected to rise from $594 billion in 2023 to $679 billion in 2024 and broader cybersecurity spending climbing to $170.4 billion by 2024, investment is clearly accelerating alongside cloud growth, while specialized security and automation markets also expand rapidly, such as the cloud native security market reaching $31.7 billion in 2023.
More related reading
04 · Category
Cost Analysis7 stats
01
2.1% global GDP loss attributed to cybercrime costs (annual estimate)https://www.mcafee.com/blogs/business/mcafee-labs/cybercrime-damages-costs/
02
40% of breaches involve compromised credentials (2023)https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
03
39% of breaches involved phishing (2023)https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
04
27% of breaches involved malware (2023)https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
05
7.8% of IT budget lost to security incidents (2021 estimate)https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
06
$170.4 billion cybersecurity spending in 2024 (forecast)https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-10-10-gartner-forecast-cybersecurity-spending-to-exceed-170-billion-in-2024
07
23% of breaches involve ransomware (2023 DBIR)https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
With cybercrime costing an estimated 2.1% of global GDP each year and the 2023 data showing that 40% of breaches involve compromised credentials and 39% involve phishing, it is clear that prevention focused on identity and user deception could reduce both high-impact losses like the 7.8% IT budget hit and major breach types such as ransomware at 23%.
05 · Category
Performance Metrics5 stats
01
53% of organizations say they reduced incident response time using SOAR (2022)https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/4034849
02
53% of breaches originate from the initial compromise vector (2023 DBIR pattern)https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
03
88% of breaches involve stolen credentials (2023 estimate)https://www.checkpoint.com/resources/security-report/
04
45% of IT leaders report workload orchestration improvements (2022)https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/4034849
05
99.95% service uptime achieved by AWS for many regional services (public SLA)https://aws.amazon.com/service-terms/
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
With 88% of breaches involving stolen credentials and 53% tied to the initial compromise vector, organizations need to prioritize credential-focused defenses and faster incident response, yet only 45% of IT leaders report workload orchestration improvements and 53% say SOAR reduced incident response time.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
David Kowalski. (2026, February 13). Mst Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/mst-statistics
MLA
David Kowalski. "Mst Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/mst-statistics.
Chicago
David Kowalski. 2026. "Mst Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/mst-statistics.
Sources & references
46 datasets cited across this report
aws.amazon.com+25 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)