Are Cyber Attacks on the Rise?

June 9, 2016 8:00 am

Seems like security breaches are on the news constantly. Each week there is a list of companies who have been compromised and will be contacting customers whose private data has been hacked or stolen. But are these seemingly daily events really on the rise? Let’s review the stats for 2015 to see the results as well as the reasons behind it.

 

First let’s look at how many people are actually using the technology. According to research company Gartner, there will be 6.8 billion connected devices in use in 2016, a 30 percent increase over 2015. By 2020, that number will jump to more than 20 billion connected devices, predicts Gartner. Put another way, for every human being on the planet, there will be between two and three connected devices (based on current U.N. population projections). That means the sheer number of devices is almost sure to increase the number of cyber attacks based on that statistics alone.

 

Here is a view of cyber attacks comparing 2014 and 2015 according to the numbers compiles by Hackmageddon. In general, 2015 has reported a more sustained activity, and this is easily and immediately visible from the Number of Monthly Attacks Chart. During 2015, the level of activity has always been higher, particularly in May, with the solely exception of October.2015-Cyber-Attacks-Statistics-Featured

 

What has also been interesting is looking at the motivations or the reasons behind the attacks.  During 2015, the percentage of events motivated by Cyber Crime has raised from 62.3% to 67%, while hacktivism has lost three points (20.8% in 2015 vs. 24.9 in 2014). Cyber Espionage reported a small growth, whereas Cyber Warfare is essentially Stable.Motivations-2014-vs-2015-2

 

Are you unsure of the security of your business? Companies can not risk the data being stolen or used in compromising ways. Call M&H for a complete evaluation of your system.

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