23+ Key Hacking Statistics for Better Digital Security in 2023

The rise of technology and the increasing reliance on the internet have made it easier for hackers to access sensitive information and cause harm. And data breaches and leaks are an everyday occurrence in the news today.

For the reasons above, we have gathered a host of hacking statistics and facts to give you, and us, a better understanding of this “career choice.”

The Top 10 Hacking Statistics for 2023

• 45% of IT executives believe there will be a rise in ransomware attacks.

• In 2021 Google committed $10 billion to fight cybersecurity in the next five years.

• Phishing scams mostly mimic Apple, Google, and Microsoft.

• North Korea-affiliated hackers stole $1.7 billion in crypto in 2022.

• Ransomware is the most common tool used by hackers, representing 21% of all total attacks in 2021.

• The manufacturing industry is the primary target for hackers.

• 37% of Americans report having their social media accounts hacked at one point or another.

• There are at least 166,000 ethical hackers across the globe.

• Through “bounties”, some ethical hackers make more than $100,000 a year.

• 46% of CEOs pledged to give their CISOs more authority in the future.

General Hacking Facts and Stats

In 2021 Google committed $10 billion to cybersecurity over five years.

At a juncture that they called a “watershed moment” when it comes to addressing cybersecurity, Google claimed cyber attacks are endangering critical infrastructure and valuable data, sometimes at a national level.

Their goal is to expand zero-trust programs, enhance open-source security, and secure the software supply chain.

(Google)

Microsoft, Apple, and Google are the top brands used for phishing.

According to the latest statistics on hacking, cybercriminals mimic these top three brands for their phishing scams. Essentially, they impersonate these brands and trick people into giving them sensitive information.

(IBM)

In 2022, North Korea-linked hackers stole $1.7 billion in crypto.

In fact, North Korea plans to invest the money it stole. According to the BBC, the country is using this theft to fund its nuclear arsenal. It should be noted that this single theft was so large it made up 44% of all stolen crypto in 2022.

(BBC)

The most common hacking attack is ransomware, at 21% of all attacks.

It works by encrypting a piece of information and then using it as ransom, blocking access to the victim until they do what the hacker wants them to do.

Server access was the second most popular, at 14% in 2021, data theft made up 8% of all attacks, and credential harvesting 7%.

(IBM)

Hacking groups have an average lifespan of 17 months.

After the 17 months are over, they either disband, get caught, or sometimes rebrand. REvil, one of the most successful ransomware gangs, lasted only two and a half years before disbanding in 2021. Several members of the gang were caught and charged in 2022 by the Russian government.

This group extorted multiple celebrities, as well as high-level law firms.

(IBM)

Hackers browse the dark web to gain access to confidential information and accounts.

In fact, 57% of the dark web supports illegal activity, so it comes as no surprise that you can find dubious information there.

For example, the average cost for credit card information is around $165, while ID card data goes for around $592. Passport data, on the other hand, goes for $1579.

(Constella Intelligence)

37% of ethical hackers hack as a hobby.

Ethical hacking statistics also show that many do so out of the pure pleasure of an intellectual challenge. However, 25% do claim that their bounties make up half of their income, while 13.7% state that bounties are their only source of income.

(Hacker One)

Some people make a living from ethical hacking through bounties.

Getting a “bounty” means finding a vulnerability in a system, reporting said vulnerability to the owner of the system (private individual, company, government…) and receiving a cash reward for one’s efforts.

For example, 12% claim they earn roughly $20,000 a year, 3% make $100,000 a year, and around 1.1% make more than $350,000 from their bounties.

(Hacker One)

Statistics and Facts on Hacking Victims

37% of Americans report having their social media accounts hacked.

Social media hacking statistics also show that of those who have been hacked, 77% claim their Facebook account ended up being targeted. Another 35% claimed somebody entered their Instagram accounts, while 24% said somebody broke into their Twitter or YouTube, and another 23% claimed it was TikTok.

(Nord VPN)

76% of Americans are more worried about getting their social media hacked than in recent years.

Furthermore, 89% claim they know someone who has been hacked, while 15% claim they know more than 10 people who had their social media accounts breached.

(Nord VPN)

Less than half of Americans trust social media platforms will keep their information private.

47% of Americans believe Facebook will keep their data private, only 29% trust Instagram, 20% trust Twitter and TikTok, and only 9% trust Discord.

(Nord VPN)

In 2014 FBI made a large number of arrests involving webcam spying software.

These arrests were carried out over a dozen countries, in order to crack down on the Blackshades software. This software allows hackers to control the victim’s webcam, letting them take pictures and videos at will.

However, despite the crackdown, there is no verifiable and unbiased data and webcam hacking statistics on the exact number of hackers who use it.

(ABC News)

In 2010, a school district had to pay $610,00 to settle a webcam spying lawsuit.

Two high schools in a Philadelphia district issued free Mac laptops to all of its 6,900 students. A sophomore was reprimanded by school officials for improper behavior, allegedly “popping pills” in his home, in front of the laptop. The school acquired this information by secretly taking pictures through the laptop’s webcam while the student was at home.

(Wired)

The Red Cross was hacked in 2022.

The cyberattack affected 515,000 people across the globe. This included individuals that receive services from the Red Cross, detainees, missing people, the families of missing people, victims of armed conflict and natural disasters, as well as migrants.

The Red Cross was not able to deduce who was behind the attack, nor why it was carried out.

(International Committee of the Red Cross )

Hacker Statistics and Cybersecurity Data

38% of large companies believe in the future more serious cyberattacks will come through the Cloud.

Cyber attack statistics have repeatedly shown how damaging this was in the past. These kinds of data breaches lead to class action lawsuits against the company, hindering its reputation, and being costly (and worrying) to the clients who lost their data.

(PWC)

Another 29% are worried about their operational technologies becoming primary targets.

Malware attacking a company’s OT is a nightmare for its production systems and supply chain. For example, a company uses bespoke tech and software that helps them optimize and automate part of their entire manufacturing process.

Most often, hackers inject malware through unpatched vulnerabilities.

(PWC)

45% of IT executives and security experts believe the future will hold a rise in ransomware attacks.

They have several pieces of advice for hack prevention however. First, there must be proper security awareness across the entire company. Next, the vulnerability of all devices needs to be analyzed.

Finally, the C-suite needs to work closely with their CISOs, and they need to, jointly, review the company’s spending on cyber insurance and cyber spending.

(PWC)

46% of CEOs want to give CISOs more authority in the following year.

In fact, the goal is to have chief information security officers collaborate with CEOs, on equal footing. Cybersecurity statistics also show that, surprisingly, 49% of CEOs of companies that have had some sort of data breach want to do the same – only 3 percentage points more.

(PWC)

Google also pledged that it will train 100,000 Americans in various IT-related fields.

These include IT Support and Data analytics. However, they also stated that it will provide training for necessary skills like data privacy and security. This will be done through the Google Career Certificates program.

In fact, 82% of graduates from this program report having a positive impact on their careers in as little as 6 months from graduating.

(Google)

Phishing is a major gateway for initial access.

Hacker statistics show that 41% of attacks use phishing in order to gain initial access. From there, they learn how best to access their victim, and which digital vulnerabilities they can exploit.

(IBM)

There was a 33% increase in vulnerabilities that lead to incidents between 2020 and 2021.

80% of these exploited vulnerabilities were brand new, one of them being the Log4j vulnerability CVE-2021-442288 (better known as Logjam), something that was only disclosed in December.

The issue with Logjam is that it was used to track basically any event that happens on a system, so it can be analyzed by IT and security experts to check for abnormalities or bugs. The bigger issue is that it was used by Twitter, Amazon, Steam, Microsoft, Google, and Apple.

(IBM)

Globally, the Manufacturing industry was the new prime target in 2021.

According to the facts about hacking provided by IBM, 23.2% of attacks handled by IBM Security X-Force in 2021 were directed towards manufacturing. The core method of attack was using ransomware.

Finance, which was the prime target before, had 22.4% of attacks directed towards it. Professional and business services were at 12.7%, the Energy industry at 8.2%, while media and government were the lowest, at 2.5% and 2.8%, respectively.

(IBM)

26% of all hacking attacks were directed to Asia, with 30% of attacks directed at finance and Insurance.

Europe was close, at 24%, North America at 23%, Middle East and Africa at 14%, and Latin America at 13%.

However, when it comes to business email compromises (BEC), 20% of all incidents that occurred in Latin America were of this type. Conversely, only 4.3% of the successful attacks in Asia were BEC.

(IBM)

23% of ethical hackers come from India.

According to the HackerOne group, a community that has at least 166,000 registered hackers, most of their hackers come from India. However, 20% come from the United States, while 6% are Russian, 4% hail from Pakistan, and another 4% are from the UK.

(Hacker One)

To Sum Up

Hacking is a growing concern in today’s world and it is important to stay informed and aware of the latest trends and statistics. We hope our stats and facts about hackers will help you stay safe, and that they made you more aware of the dangers of cybercrime.

Hacking FAQ

Sources:

• HackerOne Report

• Forbes

• MetaCompliance

• PWC

• Google

• IBM

• Constella Intelligence

• Nord VPN

• ABC News

• Wired

• International Committee of the Red Cross