Cybersecurity Statistics 2025: Unveiling Insights Behind the Numbers

Quick Summary: Curious to know what’s happening in the realm of cybersecurity in 2025? Keep reading for lots of cybersecurity statistics and facts that will provide deep insight into this field. Grab the information you need to make decisions or to understand more about the cybersecurity landscape.

According to recent cybersecurity statistics, 2,365 cyber attacks took place in the previous year. Plus, 343,338,964 were the victims of those attacks. It shows the rising threats of cybercrimes. As more organizations adopt digitalization, this trend will continue upward.

CISOs and Security experts are also continuously working to overcome these challenges by leveraging advanced technologies. Moreover, with the constantly evolving cybersecurity landscape, they need more effective strategies to secure their digital landscapes.

Besides measures like continuous vulnerability assessment and strong security posture, they should also proactively identify gaps in their strategies. So, they must keep an eye on trends and statistics in cybersecurity to shape their strategies. Knowing the latest cybersecurity stats and trends in 2024 will help in making informed decisions.

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Cybersecurity Quick Facts and Figures

Cybercrime is a growing concern for the world and it’s going to be worse in the upcoming years with the advent of AI. The AI will enable attackers to launch more sophisticated attacks. To quote some data, the average cost of data breaches is consistently shooting up year on year which was $4.88 million in 2024 with a rise of 10%.

With hackers attacking every 39 seconds on average, there is an urgent need to upgrade your defense mechanisms to mitigate security risks for web apps and other digital assets. Indeed, it’s high time you ramped up your security practices as on average 2200 cyberattacks occur in a day.

The latest cybersecurity statistics in 2024 indicate that Ransomware is the biggest security challenge for organizations around the world. There are more chilling ransomware statistics than any other security risk. In fact, 46% of organizations pay ransom after a ransomware attack to get their data back.

Let’s check out some quick facts and figures related to cybersecurity.

• The average cost of data breaches globally stands at 4.45 million.
• The average cost of a data breach in the U.S. is $9.36 million.
• The estimated cost of cyberattacks globally in 2025 is estimated to reach $10.5 trillion.
• CISOs believe that human error is the biggest cyber vulnerability.
• A total number of 37,902 CVEs had been found before the year 2025 started.
• The United States faces the highest cost of a data breach.
• 35% of executives believe that reporting cyber risk management is essential for future growth.
• Only 14% of organizations are prepared to defend against a cyberattack.
• AI is already being used by 35% of CISOs for security applications.
• Shadow data is the major cause of data breaches with 35% of cases.
• 66% of small businesses have had at least one cyberattack in the past few years.
• If the total cost of cybercrimes globally was worth a country that would be the third largest by GDP after the USA and China.

Vulnerability Statistics and Facts

• According to a study, 84% of organizations have vulnerabilities categorized as high-risk.
• Half of potentially high-risk vulnerabilities can be removed as simply as updating software.
• Failing to apply a patch is the reason behind 60% of data breaches.
• Web applications usually have 4.6% of critical vulnerabilities.
• 70% of applications are likely to have a vulnerability after five years in production.
• On average, a security team spends 130 hours tracking and monitoring threats.
• Manual efforts take at least 20 minutes in identification, prioritization, and remediation of a vulnerability.
• Log4Shell (CVE-2021-44228) is one of the biggest security challenges ever that still persists in a few systems.

A Glimpse of Trends and Stats in Cybersecurity by Industry

As threat vectors become more intricate with sophisticated attack tactics, organizations need innovative methods to fortify their defenses. Almost every organization is susceptible to cyberattacks today irrespective of the industry due to increasing dependence on digital technologies and the internet. Attackers target organizations by exploiting vulnerabilities, implanting malware, or through social engineering tactics. Let’s check out cybersecurity stats for different industries.

Healthcare Industry

When it comes to cybersecurity, the healthcare industry is among the most vulnerable sectors to cyberattacks. There is a wide range of attacks that healthcare organizations have faced in the past few years. The attack methods have also increased with the use of more sophisticated technologies like IOMT (Internet of Medical Things). The following are a few stats for healthcare.

• $11 million is the highest average cost of a data breach in healthcare.
• 51 minutes is the MTTR (Mean Time to Recovery) for healthcare organizations.
• Human elements were the main reason for 68% of breaches.
• Hacking and IT incidents are the major reasons behind data breaches in healthcare.
• The healthcare industry continues to have the highest average cost of data breaches in the USA.
• Networks/servers were the most common place where breached data was stored.
• Malware-related breaches affected 14 million patients in the USA in 2024.
• There were 707 ransomware attacks that were a major reason for healthcare.
• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has reported an alarming 264% rise in healthcare ransomware attacks over the last five years.

Financial Industry

The financial industry is the most attacked industry after manufacturing. As firms in this sector handle a large volume of sensitive data, cybercriminals often target them. In this sector banks are more exposed. An attack on this industry is dangerous for the financial stability of a country. Let’s see some stats on this industry.

• The cost of a data breach in the financial sector stands at 5.9 million on average.
• The financial sector ranks second in terms of the cost of data breaches.
• System intrusion has become the major threat vector in the finance and insurance sector.
• Social engineering is used in 78% of data breaches.
• In 95% of cases, the actual motive behind cyberattacks is financial.

Manufacturing Industry

There is an increase in error-related breaches in the manufacturing industry. It sits on top of the list of most attacked industries worldwide, as per Statista. Almost a quarter of cyberattacks (25.7%) hit the manufacturing industry. Let's see more stats below.

• Social engineering, system intrusion, and miscellaneous errors account for 83% of data breaches.
• The use of stolen credentials is a reason for hacking in 25% of data breaches in the manufacturing industry.
• Currently, the manufacturing industry faces the most frequent cyberattacks at 23% of all security incursions globally.
• 50% of operational technology and industrial organizations don’t have sufficient cybersecurity expertise.

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Educational Industry

The online educational services industry has revolutionized the way people learn, study, and read books. However, it’s not free from the menace of cybersecurity. It has been one of the key targets of hackers. The MOVEit data breach has been a significant incident in this industry. Let’s see some cyber security statistics about this industry.

• Backdoor was the primary type of action of malware for the educational industry in 57% of cases.
• Exploitation of vulnerabilities has been a major reason for hacking in this industry at 56%.
• According to Verizon’s IDBR 2024, the educational industry holds the sixth position among the most affected industries by data breaches.
• As per Intel’s report, there has been at least one successful cyberattack on educational establishments.

Retail Industry

The retail industry is among those that benefitted from digital technology the most. However, the tech revolution also made it susceptible to cyberattacks. There is a wide range of cyber threats to the retail industry such as stealing credit card information, POS attacks, data breaches, and more. The following are some cybersecurity stats for this industry.

• 24% of cyberattacks are faced by the retail industry.
• As per Statista, the retail and wholesale industry stands in the fifth position among the most targeted sectors for cyberattacks.
• The retail industry holds a share of 10.7% of the total number of cyberattacks.
• 78% of consumers fear about their data privacy.

Cyber Security Statistics by Threat Vectors

Cyber threats are increasing in variety as the world becomes more connected through digital technologies. There are different techniques that cybercriminals use today, and the number of potential attack vectors is increasing. In fact, there are 206000+ entries in the National Vulnerability Database.

Phishing Statistics

• According to a report, 55% of phishing websites steal sensitive data by impersonating targeted brand names.
• In 13% of cases, Google and Amazon websites are impersonated making them the most impersonated brands.
• Conducting regular training can help reduce the rate of employees falling prey to phishing attacks stated by 85% of US organizations.
• Microsoft is the most targeted brand for phishing attacks at 33%.
• Phishing is the starting point for 74% of account takeover attacks.
• According to FBI’s (IC3) data, business email compromises account for 25% (one-fourth) of financially motivated attacks.

Malware Statistics

• Email is the most common attack vector for delivering malware in 88% of cases.
• Around 1.2 billion potentially unwanted applications and malicious programs exist.
• AV-TEST registers more than 450,000 malware every day.
• There were 190,000 malware attacks per second in the previous year, as per AVG.

Ransomware Statistics

• Healthcare was the most targeted industry by ransomware in the USA in 2024 (Statista).
• The major reason for ransomware attacks on the manufacturing industry was compromised credentials.
• On average, 59% of organizations globally were victims of ransomware activity in the first quarter of the previous year.
• Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) kits have increased the frequency of attacks.
• As per Cybersecurity Ventures, Ransomware costs are expected to soar to approximately USD 265 billion annually by 2031.

Understanding Statistics of Cyber Security by Technology

Cloud Security

• Human factor remains the main security risk for cloud according to Statista.
• Lack of budget is the main reason for half of IT teams to maintain security in the cloud.
• 50% of organizations prioritize the prevention of cloud misconfigurations for security.
• BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) security policies are a priority for 5% of organizations.
• For 12% of organizations, cloud security training is a priority.
• In 82% of data breach instances, data was stored in the cloud.

IoT Security

• Digital trust is considered important for IoT solutions by only 30% of providers.
• Denial-of-Service (DoS) and buffer overflow are the two most common vulnerabilities in IoT devices.
• On average 54% of organizations face cyberattacks attempting to target IoT devices every week.
• Around 20% of organizations have already experienced at least one cyberattack on IoT devices in the past three years.

Artificial Intelligence

• AI is essential for cybersecurity believed by 69% of organizations.
• The market size of AI in cybersecurity is estimated to reach $102.78 billion by 2032.
• Hackers used AI to steal $150 million worth of different digital assets including Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Vulnerable Systems are Easy Targets for Attackers, Make Sure It's Not Yours Uncover Security Risks

To Wrap Up

Cybersecurity is not constant; it’s evolving with new kinds of threats and exposures. CISOs and security experts should also continuously update themselves on these evolving changes with stats and trends. Knowing them provides deep insight into the threat landscape to align their strategies accordingly.