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Explore the latest trends and actionable insights on the Cybersecurity market to inform business strategy and pinpoint opportunities and risks

Increasing Cybercrimes in the US

Industry: Telecom Services
Current: Other Industry Indicators

In 2021, the US reported a rapid increase in cybercrimes; from individuals to institutes, every group was affected by the attacks.
In the US, 847,376 complaints related to cybercrimes were reported in 2021, which indicated an increase of 7% over that in the previous year.
The amount of money lost in cryptocurrency fraud was $1.6 billion in 2021, which showed a YoY increase of 600%.

Increasing Cybercrimes in the US

In March 2022, the US administration issued a statement on the potential cyber threat from Russia, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Officials have advised the private sector to strengthen their cyber security by adopting best practices. In 2021, the US reported a rapid increase in cybercrimes; from individuals to institutes, every group was affected by the attacks.

Reporting of Cybercrime

According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), in the US, 847,376 complaints related to cybercrimes were reported in 2021, which showed an increase of 7% over that in the previous year. The total loss due to the malicious attack was estimated at $6.9 billion during the year. Ransomware, business e-mail compromise (BEC) schemes, and the unlawful exploitation of bitcoin are among the top categories recorded in 2021.

Overview of Cyber Threats

BEC is a digital fraud that targets both organizations and individuals who transfer money. The scam is usually carried out by using social engineering tactics to hack corporate email accounts to make unlawful financial transactions. The IC3 received 19,954 Business Email Compromise (BEC) complaints in 2021 with a loss of around $2.4 billion.

In 2021, 24,299 reports related to Confidence Fraud/Romance scams were filed with a loss of more than $956 million. Romance scams occur when a criminal creates a false online identity in order to earn the trust and affection of a victim.

In 2021, the IC3 received 34,202 complaints related to cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple. The amount of money lost in the fraud was $1.6 billion in 2021, which showed a YoY increase of 600%. Cryptocurrency is becoming the favored payment mechanism for all types of frauds such as tech support fraud, job schemes, romance scams, etc, which was once limited to hackers, ransomware groups, and other dwellers of the "dark web.”

Ransomware is malicious software that encrypts data on a computer and makes it inaccessible. In 2021, the IC3 received 3,729 ransomware-related complaints with more than $49.2 million in losses.

Public awareness, corporate alertness, and reporting of cyberattacks are essential to mitigate the risk of tangible and intangible losses from cybercrimes. The increase in cyberattacks can be avoided by robust cybersecurity.

Explore the latest trends and actionable insights on the Cybersecurity market to inform business strategy and pinpoint opportunities and risks Explore the latest trends and actionable insights on the Cybersecurity market to inform business strategy and pinpoint opportunities and risks Visit Report Store