The first person to hack a computer was not charged with any crime because no laws that deemed hacking illegal existed, but there are now several laws against it.
Hacking into computers can be illegal and legal, depending on which side you are on or for what purpose you are hacking.
Therefore, we have researched, collected, and vetted some exciting hacking statistics for you.
Top 7 Hacking Statistics to Know (Editor’s Pick)
- 42 million US adults were victims of identity fraud in 2022.
- Phishing attacks increased by 61% between 2021-2022.
- In 2022, hacking breaches in the healthcare industry cost $10.10 million.
- Around $3 billion worth of cryptocurrencies were stolen or hacked in 2022.
- In 2022, data breaches in the critical infrastructure sector cost $4.82 million.
- Yahoo’s data breach compromised 3 billion user accounts.
- 2.5 million SSNs were exposed in a student loan data breach.
Infographic
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/hacking-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/top-hacking-statistics.png" alt="Top 7 Hacking Statistics" width="768" border="0" height="938.24" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/top-hacking-statistics-768x938.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/top-hacking-statistics-246x300.png 246w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/top-hacking-statistics-838x1024.png 838w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/top-hacking-statistics.png 1200w" sizes="auto"></a>
General Hacking Attack Statistics
A hospital in Düsseldorf, Germany, suffered a misdirected ransomware attack that caused its IT systems to fail. Thus, leading to a patient’s death.
2. In April 2021, Colonial Pipeline in the US paid hackers around $5 million via bitcoin.
However, the government swiftly recovered about 60 of the 75 bitcoins sent in ransom payments.
3. Ethical hackers discovered over 65,000 vulnerabilities in 2022.
This was 21% higher than in the previous year.
4. 42 million US adults were victims of identity fraud in 2022.
Thus, resulting in losses of $52 billion.
5. It took 277 days to identify and fix a data breach in 2022.
In 2021, it took 287 days to identify and fix a data breach.
Likewise, the average cost to identify and fix the breach in 2022 was $3.74 million if the data breach lifecycle was less than 200 days. If the data breach cycle was over 200 days, fixing it would cost $4.86 million.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/hacking-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/data-breach-hacking-impact.png" alt="Data Breach and Hacking Impact" width="768" border="0" height="383.03951975988" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/data-breach-hacking-impact-768x383.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/data-breach-hacking-impact-300x150.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/data-breach-hacking-impact-1024x511.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/data-breach-hacking-impact-1536x766.png 1536w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/data-breach-hacking-impact.png 1999w" sizes="auto"></a>
6. Mobile malware infections declined from 2021 to 2022.
In Q1 of 2021, the number of mobile malware infections reported was over 15.2 million. But by Q3 2022, reported mobile malware cases were 5.6 million.
7. Ransomware attacks increased in 2022 compared to 2021.
In 2021, the share of ransomware malware attacks was 0.016%, growing to 0.026% in 2022.
8. Phishing attacks increased by 61% between 2021-2022.
This equated to about 255 million phishing attack detections from nearly thirty million malicious URLs in 2022.
9. DDoS attack bandwidths increased by 57% half-over-half to 957.9 Gbps H1 2022.
But DDoS attack volumes have decreased in the Asia-Pacific region by 9%.
North America is an exception, where the attacks increased by 2%.
10. Wynncraft was targeted by one of the most significant DDoS attacks of 2022.
A 2.5Tbps DDoS attack was launched on Wynncraft using the Mirai botnet variant, one of the largest DDoS attack attempts of 2022.
11. In 2022, 10% of data breaches involved ransomware attacks.
The average cost of a ransomware attack in 2022 was $4.54 million.
In the H1 of 2022, there were a total of 236.1 million ransomware attacks reported.
And 90% of ransomware attacks resulted in no loss.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/hacking-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/cost-ransomware-attacks.png" alt="Cost of Ransomware Attacks" width="768" border="0" height="653.6170212766" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/cost-ransomware-attacks-768x654.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/cost-ransomware-attacks-300x255.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/cost-ransomware-attacks-1024x871.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/cost-ransomware-attacks.png 1410w" sizes="auto"></a>
12. Mobile malware variants grew in 2022.
In 2022, new malware variants increased by 71% compared to 2021.
13. In 2022, hacking breaches in the healthcare industry cost $10.10 million.
In 2022, the average industry data breach cost was $4.35 million, and the average cost of breaches in the US was $9.44 million.
But the healthcare industry’s average data breach cost was the most expensive and is 9.4% higher compared to 2021.
Cryptocurrency Hacking Statistics
14. The first cryptocurrency exchange hack happened in 2011.
25,000 bitcoins worth approximately $400,000 was stolen from Mt. Gox, a Bitcoin exchange based in Japan. During this period, Mt. Gox handled almost 70% of all bitcoin transactions.
15. Around $3 billion worth of cryptocurrencies were stolen or hacked in 2022.
For example, In March 2022, Lazarus Group, a cybercrime group based out of North Korea, stole $620 million worth of USDC and ETH from Ronin Network.
Law enforcement officials recovered cryptocurrency worth $30 million, and a further $5.8 million was successfully frozen by Binance. The remaining assets could not be recovered.
16. Wormhole bridge, a blockchain bridge, was exploited for 12,000 wETH in 2022.
Later, the hacker converted wETH to regular Ethereum and Solana and made $320 million.
Hacking Statistics by Demography
17. Male hackers outnumbered female hackers by over 10:1 in 2023.
Over 91.5% of hackers are male, and the number of female hackers is 8.5%.
18. There were more white hackers in 2021 than hackers of other races.
White people comprised 65.7% of all hackers, followed by Asians (9.6%) and African Americans (9.2%) in the top three.
| Race | Percentage of Hacking Population |
|---|---|
| White | 65.7% |
| Asian | 9.6% |
| Black or African American | 9.2% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 9.0% |
| Unknown | 6.1% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.4% |
19. As of 2021, hackers of Asian origin were the youngest by race.
Asian hackers were the youngest, at an average age of 39, followed by Hispanics/Latinos (41).
The table below breaks down hackers’ average ages in 2021 by their respective races.
| Race | Average Age |
|---|---|
| Asian | 40 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 41 |
| White | 42 |
| Black/African American | 43 |
| Unidentified/mixed race | 44 |
20. Hispanic/Latino female hackers in 2021 were the youngest, at 37 years average age.
Next were Asian females, whose average age was 41, followed by other unidentified/mixed races (42).
| Race | Average Age |
|---|---|
| Hispanic or Latino | 37 |
| Asian | 41 |
| Unidentified/mixed race | 42 |
| Black/African American | 44.5 |
| White | 47 |
21. As of 2021, 40% of hackers left an organization after less than a year.
Only 3% of hackers had 11+ years of experience in the same organization.
| Tenure | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Less than one year | 40% |
| 1-2 years | 28% |
| 3-4 years | 15% |
| 5-7 years | 9% |
| 8-10 years | 4% |
| 11+ years | 3% |
Financials of Hacking Statistics
22. Damages from lost and stolen credentials cost more than the average data breach as of 2022.
Such damages cost nearly $150,000 more compared to an average data breach.
23. In 2022, companies that offered remote work paid nearly $1 million extra for data breaches compared to hybrid and in-office work setups.
An average of $4.99 million was paid by businesses using some form of remote working, nearly $1 million more than businesses that do not offer remote working.
24. In 2022, data breaches in the critical infrastructure sector cost $4.82 million.
Ransomware incidents were also much higher, as nearly 28% of critical infrastructures reported attacks.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/hacking-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/critical-infrastructure-attacks.png" alt="Cost of Critical Infrastructure Attacks" width="768" border="0" height="542.75618374558" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/critical-infrastructure-attacks-768x543.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/critical-infrastructure-attacks-300x212.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/critical-infrastructure-attacks-1024x724.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/critical-infrastructure-attacks-1536x1086.png 1536w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/critical-infrastructure-attacks.png 1698w" sizes="auto"></a>
25. The cost of data breaches in the US was significantly higher than in other nations in 2022.
The average data breach cost in the US was $9.44 million, followed by the Middle East with $6.46 million.
26. Attacks involving ransomware increased by 41% in 2022.
Ransomware-related breaches increased by 41% over the previous year, and it took 49 days more than usual to find and stop them. Destructive attacks also cost over $430,000 more than before.
Other Hacking Statistics
27. In August 2019, the US hacked into an F-15 Jet.
Seven hackers successfully penetrated the F-15’s defense system in two days by taking advantage of several software vulnerabilities.
28. Yahoo’s data breach compromised 3 billion user accounts.
In 2014, Yahoo! admitted that a data breach compromised around 500 million user accounts. But in 2017, the email and search engine company disclosed that instead of 500 million accounts, the actual figure was 3 billion.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/hacking-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/yahoo-data-breach.png" alt="Cost of Yahoo! Data Breach" width="768" border="0" height="624.81355932203" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/yahoo-data-breach-768x625.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/yahoo-data-breach-300x244.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/yahoo-data-breach-1024x833.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/yahoo-data-breach-1536x1249.png 1476w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/yahoo-data-breach.png 1475w" sizes="auto"></a>
29. The CIA, MI6, and other spy agencies banned Lenovo computers.
Since around 2006, China-based Lenovo has been banned by agencies like MI5, MI6, CIA, and others.
30. A 15-year-old once hacked NASA.
In 1999, a 15-year-old Jonathan James hacked NASA and caused their computers to go offline for 21 days.
31. 2.5 million SSNs were exposed in a student loan data breach.
In 2022, Nelnet Servicing, a student loan service, suffered a data breach that exposed the social security number, name, address, phone number, and other confidential information of the students who had applied for a loan.
32. 5.4 million Twitter account details were stolen in 2022.
The hacker, who went by the alias “devil,” stole the email addresses and phone numbers of companies, celebrities, and other users.
The data was then posted for sale at a starting price of $30,000.
33. In September of 2022, Rockstar Games was hacked, resulting in the release of GTA 6 gameplay videos.
The hacker also said they would release the game’s source code and other information.
How to Prevent Getting Hacked
While a firewall or an antivirus may become obsolete, you can still protect yourself from getting hacked. First, ensure your organization has a robust IT security team and you (plus everyone else) follow recommended cybersecurity guidelines.
Likewise, check out our cybersecurity statistics to discover some shocking cybersecurity facts and trends.
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- https://www.getastra.com/blog/security-audit/healthcare-data-breach-statistics/
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