- Increase in cybercrime complaints: In 2023, the FBI received over 880,000 cybercrime complaints, with reported losses exceeding $12.5 billion, a 13% rise compared to 2022.
- Rising ransomware costs: Ransomware attacks accounted for 58% of large claims in 2024, with the average cost per ransomware incident increasing to $432,000, up from $334,000 in 2023.
- Legal pressures and data breaches: The number of data privacy-related class action lawsuits in the US surged to over 1,300 in 2023, more than double the figure in 2022.
- Human vulnerabilities: Human error continues to dominate as a critical weakness, accounting for 75% of data breaches. Social engineering and phishing remain the most common attack methods, responsible for 44% of breaches.
“This latest research clearly indicates that organizations, regardless of size, must adopt a proactive and comprehensive approach to cybersecurity,” said Stu Sjouwerman, CEO of KnowBe4. “Cybersecurity cannot remain an isolated IT function. Instead, it must be embraced as a core component of organizational strategy, ensuring that technological risk management is backed by informed human defenses and comprehensive risk management practices, including cyber insurance.”
