Is Cybercrime Indeed as Harmful as we Believe?

The digital landscape is constantly evolving and, as a result, we’re all a lot more interconnected than we used to be 20 years ago. We shop online, communicate online, find entertainment online, and use a variety of online services.

It’s all very convenient, but there is a downside to all this connectivity – there are plenty of hackers out there waiting to pounce on the unprepared. Online, everyone’s fair game, even big companies like Equifax and Yahoo.

As you’ll see from the infographic below prepared by our friends from TechJury, hackers have exposed data on some of the biggest sites in the world.

On average, a cyber attack on a large firm in the United Kingdom costs around £36,000. In the United States, personal attacks cost consumers $16 billion in 2016. Want an even more sobering statistic? Cybercrime is expected to pass the £2 trillion mark in 2019.

So it’s not funny money we’re talking about here; we’re talking about some serious costs. But it’s not just the financial cost that should be taken into account. At a personal level, these attacks could have quite serious consequences.

It might be someone exposing your personal pictures online. Or it could be identity theft, which can lead to a whole lot of misery for you. It can take years to clear your credit record after such a scenario. In the meantime, you’ll have no access to credit, will have to deal with debt collectors, and may even find it difficult to get a job.

For a business, the consequences can be equally dire. Businesses face severe reputational risks, and many small companies close down completely within six months of the attack. They might also face fines if it’s found that they haven’t taken adequate security measures against the attack and may also face civil action.

So is cybercrime really as bad as it’s made out to be? No, it’s actually a lot worse. Not all attacks are reported, and some slip under the radar completely. Need more convincing? Check out the infographic below for all the facts and figures.