Three in four companies (75%) of the companies based in the US are prone to cyberattacks, a new Kiteworks report has revealed.
The Kiteworks study stated that it expects the total losses in revenues due to cyberattacks in the US alone will reach over $452 billion this year, while global income losses due to cyberattacks will reach $9.22 trillion in 2024. This amount is projected to increase further to $13.82 trillion in 2028.
Meanwhile, the new study further revealed that Colorado, New York, Nevada, and Missouri are on the top list of states in the US that are most prone to cyberattacks. The aforementioned states share risk scores of 7.96, 7.84, 7.62, and 7.51 respectively.
“Colorado is the state where businesses are most at risk of cyberattacks, with a risk score of 7.96. Colorado has seen a 58.7% increase in victim losses since 2017,” the Kiteworks report stated.
The report also noted that California, with the highest population of 38 million, has annual cyberattack losses amounting to over $656 million. Meanwhile, Missouri has recorded a 136.1% jump in annual cyberattack losses since 2017.
Moreover, business email compromise (BEC) leads the line when it comes to the most common form of cyberattack, stated the report.
“BEC is the cyberattack in the United States with the highest financial impact, with losses exceeding $1 billion ($1,747,924,931) since 2020 and an average loss of $88,350 per incident. BEC attacks involve fraudsters impersonating business executives or employees to deceive victims into transferring funds or revealing sensitive information,” the report said.
This was followed by credit card and check fraud ranked second, causing $516,046,155 in total losses and an average loss of $27,039 per incident. While malware attacks ranked third in the most common form of cyberattacks against US businesses, and have resulted in losses of $237,469,021 with an average loss of $83,235 per incident.
Nonpayment or non-delivery attacks are also common in the US, causing huge losses on the part of the buyers who never received the products or services that they paid online. This is the most common cyber threat in the US since 2020, the report stated. Personal data breaches are also on the list.
“Our study reveals a concerning trend: cyberattacks are on the rise, both in frequency and financial impact. As cyber threats continue to evolve, proactive investment in advanced security technologies and employee training can significantly enhance a company's resilience against cybercrime, as well as a greater focus on data security,” said Patrick Spencer, spokesperson at Kiteworks.
“Businesses should adopt a content-defined zero-trust approach to secure their sensitive communications,” Spencer said. “By consolidating email, file sharing, SFTP, managed file transfer, and web forms into a private content network protected by a hardened virtual appliance, organizations can ensure that sensitive content is only accessed by authorized users. This approach provides advanced security, comprehensive governance, and regulatory compliance, ensuring the protection of sensitive content.”
Have something to say about this story? Leave a comment below.
