Average data breach costing $3.3 million global survey shows

Author Moonshot.news

Published on: 01/10/2024

The estimated cost of an average data breach is $3.3 million. 41% of businesses see cloud-related threats as the highest cyber threat. 38% say hack-and-leak operations and 35% fear third-party data breaches most, according to consultancy PwC’s global digital trust survey. World Economic Forum has listed the top-10 cyber issues so far this year. Lack of cyber security specialists in one of them.

77% of the business leaders in PwC’s survey expect their cyber budget to increase over the coming year as only 2% say their company has implemented cyber resilience across their organisation.

66% of tech leaders rank cyber as their top risk for mitigation in 2024, compared to 48% of business leaders.

78% have increased their investment in GenAI over the last 12-months and 67% of security leaders state that GenAI has increased their attack surface over the last year, the PwC reports.

The survey comprises 4,042 business and tech executives from across 77 countries and territories. 

“There is also a clear cyber security imperative. Organisations cite investment in cybersecurity as a key differentiator for competitive advantage, with 57% citing customer trust and 49% citing brand integrity and loyalty as primary drivers for such investment.” 

“In the backdrop, cyber regulations are also driving investment – with 96% reporting such regulations to have increased their cyber investment in the last 12 months”, the PWC report says.

World Economic Forum’s ranking of top-10 cyber issues 2024 so far:

• 1. Ransomware and the US election: Last month, FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released report Just So You Know: Ransomware Disruptions During Voting Periods Will Not Impact the Security and Resilience of Vote Casting or Counting. It did note that in previous US and foreign elections, “malicious actors have sought to spread or amplify false or exaggerated claims about cyber incidents in an attempt to manipulate public opinion, discredit the electoral process, or undermine confidence in US democratic institutions”.
• 2. Olympics target by 140 cyber attacks: During the two weeks of Olympic events in Paris, French authorities reported more than 140 cyberattacks – but none disrupted the events.
• 3. FBI takes down zombie computers: In May, the FBI dismantled a network of 19 million computers across almost 200 countries that had been infected with malware.
• 4. Wanted: 4 million cybersecurity experts: The world is facing a big cyber skills gap, with a global shortage of nearly 4 million cyber professionals, according to the Centre for Cybersecurity.
• 5. Major IT outage teaches a lesson in cyber-resilience:mIn July, businesses and governments worldwide were disrupted by a major IT outage affecting 8.5 million Microsoft Windows devices and caused widespread disruptions to airlines, banks, broadcasters, healthcare providers, retail payment terminals and cash machines globally. The outage was caused by a flawed update to a cloud-based security software of CrowdStrike, one of the leading cybersecurity companies.
• 6. The link between cybercrime and slavery: Jurgen Stock, Secretary General of INTERPOL, highlighted the connection between cybercrime and human trafficking when the Global Cybersecurity Outlook was launched.
• 7. IMF warns of cyber threat to financial institutions: Cyber-attacks in the financial sector pose a serious threat to global financial stability, a report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned in May.
• 8. ‘Pig-butchering’ scams on the rise: In March, INTERPOL released its Global Financial Fraud assessment, which found that technology is “enabling organised crime groups to better target victims around the world”.
• 9. AI can enhance cybersecurity: Much has been written about how AI has been used to create deepfakes and spread disinformation, as well as its potential to augment the effectiveness of cyberattacks.
• 10. World’s most harmful cyber group disrupted: Back in February, an international law enforcement task force called Operation Cronos took down the world’s “most harmful cyber group”, LockBit.