Ani Petrosyan
Research expert for cybersecurity and cybercrime
U.S. internet users and cybercrime - Statistics & Facts
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When it comes to cybercrime, the United States can’t catch a break. Many factors come together to make it one of the leading markets most likely to be targeted by a cyberattack. In 2023, over 880 thousand complaints about cybercrime were sent nationwide. In that year, people and organizations mostly reported encountering phishing, spoofing, and personal data breaches.
Having data breached is an unsettling experience. Unfortunately, the more online presence individuals have, the more vulnerable they become if they lack the necessary digital knowledge and awareness. The good news is that newly developed cybersecurity tools keep up with cybercrime trends, and it is a common interest to internet users and companies to keep the online environment safe for everyone.
How common is financial cybercrime?
Roughly four in ten Americans think it is somewhat likely that they will become victims of financial cybercrime. But how common is this type of crime? As of September 2023, more than 60 percent of Americans have encountered credit card fraud. Furthermore, breaches of financial data and online account hacking were also recurrent. To avoid this, three in four adults say they wouldn’t click on or download attachments from unknown senders.Data breaches
Yahoo’s 2013-2014 data breach remains the most significant reported data breach incident in the U.S. and global history to date. Records of around three billion accounts were leaked through that incident. In recent years, however, the number of breached accounts in the U.S. has fluctuated greatly, amounting to approximately 117 million breached records in the second quarter of 2024. Healthcare and financial organizations were most likely to be the places where the most data leaks happened.Monetary loss caused by cybercrime
Online crime incidents, most of the time, cause financial losses. In 2023, the overall monetary loss caused by cybercrime in the United States was around 12.5 billion U.S. dollars. Moreover, investment fraud was the leading online crime category, by the amount of losses among victims, followed by business e-mail compromise (BEC). California was the state to report the highest amount of victim losses, over two billion, followed by Texas and Florida.Concerns rise with the spread of generative AI
Being not too familiar with the technology, many internet users express concerns about the impact of generative AI. Deep fakes created through generative AI tools are among the concerns of roughly 85 percent of adults in the United States. Moreover, older generations were more worried regarding this.Mindfulness is the key
Many consumers are now aware that in order to stay safe online, they have to avoid or at least restrict certain activities. According to a May 2023 survey conducted among U.S. adults, roughly half of respondents limited or avoided clicking on online ads as a privacy measure. However, the usage of safety tools, such as VPNs, was not very common.Having data breached is an unsettling experience. Unfortunately, the more online presence individuals have, the more vulnerable they become if they lack the necessary digital knowledge and awareness. The good news is that newly developed cybersecurity tools keep up with cybercrime trends, and it is a common interest to internet users and companies to keep the online environment safe for everyone.
Ani Petrosyan
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Jul 31, 2024
Ani Petrosyan
Research expert for cybersecurity and cybercrime
