53 Cybersecurity Statistics You Must Know in 2025

What Is Cybersecurity? 

Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting digital systems, networks, devices, and data from unauthorized access, attacks, damage, or theft. It involves a combination of technologies, processes, and policies to reduce risks and defend against threats ranging from individual hackers to state-sponsored actors.

At its core, cybersecurity focuses on safeguarding three main principles — confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CIA). Confidentiality ensures sensitive data is accessed only by authorized parties. Integrity ensures data remains accurate and unaltered. Availability ensures systems and information remain accessible when needed.

Cybersecurity covers multiple domains, including network security, application security, cloud security, endpoint protection, identity and access management (IAM), and operational security. It also involves incident response and disaster recovery planning to minimize the impact of breaches.

This is part of a series of articles about information security

Key Cybersecurity Statistics 

Cybercrime Volume and Data Growth

Cybercrime must be understood in the context of global data expansion. Every year, more personal, financial, and operational data is stored and transmitted across digital platforms. This creates a vast attack surface for cybercriminals who are motivated by the value of that data—either for direct exploitation or sale on the dark web.

1. Global data is projected to reach 394 zettabytes by 2028.
2. The FBI reported 880,418 cybercrime complaints in 2023 — up 10% from 2022 — with over $12.5 billion in potential losses.
3. The human factor is involved in 68% of breaches, often through social engineering or mistakes (Verizon DBIR 2024).

Sources: FBI, Verizon

Attack Types and Vectors

Cyberattacks exploit various technical and human weaknesses to gain unauthorized access, disrupt systems, or exfiltrate data. Attack vectors are the specific paths or methods used by cybercriminals — such as phishing, malware, DDoS, and credential theft. These vectors evolve constantly, often leveraging trends like AI-generated content or exploiting unpatched vulnerabilities.

Phishing and social engineering

4. Phishing attacks increased 4,151% since the release of ChatGPT in late 2022.
5. 932,923 phishing incidents occurred in Q3 2024.
6. Business email compromise made up 6% of phishing incidents, with spear phishing links in 50% of cases.

Malware and cryptojacking

7. Ransomware affected 59% of organizations in 2024 (Sophos).
8. 6.06 billion malware incidents were recorded in 2023.
9. Cryptojacking grew by 659%, with 1.06 billion attacks in 2023.
10. In Asia-Pacific, malware was the most active attack type.

DDoS (distributed denial of service)

11. Netscout tracked 8 million DDoS attacks in H1 2024.
12. The largest attack hit 3.8 Tbps of traffic (Cloudflare).
13. Average DDoS downtime cost: $22,000 per minute.

Mobile and IoT threats

14. IoT malware attacks increased 107% year-over-year.
15. Only 4% of organizations believe their IoT environments are secure.

Sources: Slashnext, Verizon, APWG, Sophos, Sonicwall, Cloudfare, Sonicwall

Vulnerabilities and Exploits

Vulnerabilities are flaws in software or hardware that attackers exploit to gain unauthorized access or cause damage. The rapid growth in connected services and applications has led to an explosion in vulnerability disclosures. Many organizations struggle to patch systems quickly, giving attackers a window of opportunity to exploit known flaws — especially zero-day vulnerabilities that are used before vendors issue a fix.

16. Over 30,000 CVEs were published in 2023 — up 17% from 2022.
17. In H1 2024, 22,254 CVEs were reported — a 30% jump YoY.
18. One vulnerability is published every 17 minutes.
19. 204 CVEs (0.91%) were weaponized within hours of disclosure.
20. AppTrana identified 2,028 zero-day vulnerabilities as of October 2024.
21. 56% of older vulnerabilities are still actively exploited.
22. Exploits often persist for up to two years after disclosure.

Sources: Skybox Security, Intelligent CISO, Qualys, Indusface, Security Week 

Cost and Impact of Cyberattacks

Cyberattacks impose long-term costs beyond immediate incident response. These include legal fees, reputational damage, loss of customers, regulatory fines, and reduced business performance. The cost varies by industry, geography, and whether organizations use proactive defense tools like AI and automation.

23. Global cybercrime costs will reach $23 trillion by 2027 (IMF).
24. The average cost of a data breach in 2024: $4.88 million.
25. Healthcare breach cost: $9.77 million; finance: $6.08 million.
26. Ransomware recovery cost in 2024: $2.73 million, up from $1.76 million in 2023.
27. Organizations using security AI saved $2.22 million per breach on average.

Sources: Statista Market Insights, IBM 

Industry-Specific Threat Trends

Different industries face unique cybersecurity risks based on the systems and data they manage. Manufacturing, healthcare, and financial services are frequent targets due to their operational technology, sensitive records, and regulatory exposure.

Manufacturing

28. Accounted for 32.43% of all incidents in 2023.
29. Backdoors were used in 28% of manufacturing-related attacks.

Healthcare

30. Ransomware attacks surged 264% over the last five years.
31. Average breach cost: $10.10 million.

Sources: Infosecurity Magazine, IBM, BDO, 

Cloud and API Security

As organizations shift to cloud and API-driven infrastructure, security risks grow due to misconfigurations, weak access controls, and the broader attack surface. APIs in particular are often overlooked despite their critical role in modern software architecture, making them a frequent target for attackers.

32. 82% of data breaches now involve cloud-based systems.
33. Cloud intrusions rose by 75% in 2023.
34. Over 2 billion API attacks were blocked in 2024 (AppTrana).
35. DDoS against APIs increased by 94% in 2024.
36. 68% of API endpoints are attacked more frequently than web interfaces.

Sources: IBM, Crowdstrike, Indusface, Akamai   

Supply Chain and Third-Party Risks

Third-party vendors and supply chains represent a major security risk because they often have privileged access to core systems. These relationships can introduce vulnerabilities that attackers exploit indirectly.

37. 45% of organizations expected to be targeted by software supply chain attacks by 2025 (Gartner).
38. 61% of companies experienced a third-party-related breach in 2023.
39. 84% of these incidents caused operational disruptions.
40. Breaches via third parties take 12.8% longer to resolve and cost 11.8% more.

Sources: Gartner, Prevalent, Corporate Insights, Mitratech

Cybersecurity Workforce and Skills Gap

The cybersecurity industry faces a persistent talent shortage. Despite workforce growth, the demand for skilled professionals far exceeds supply, creating gaps in threat detection, incident response, and security architecture.

41. 5.5 million cybersecurity professionals are employed globally (ISC2, 2024).
42. 5 million more professionals are still needed worldwide.
43. 46% of firms have unfilled mid-senior level security roles.
44. U.S. cybersecurity jobs are expected to grow 32% by 2032 (BLS).
45. Median salary for InfoSec analysts in the U.S.: $112,000/year.

Sources: ISC2, UK Government, Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Compliance, Regulations, and Penalties

Noncompliance with cybersecurity regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA can result in significant fines and reputational harm. Increasing enforcement and growing consumer awareness about data privacy have made regulatory adherence essential for business continuity and customer trust.

46. Breach cost for noncompliant organizations: $5.05 million, 12.6% higher than compliant ones.
47. GDPR fines since 2018 exceed €2.4 billion.
48. Meta was fined €1.2 billion in 2023 under GDPR.
49. Only 69% of firms use automated compliance tools.
50. Companies with mature compliance programs save an average of $2.86 million per year.

Sources: IBM, GDPR.eu 

Emerging Threats and Future Trends

New technologies introduce both defensive capabilities and fresh attack vectors. Generative AI, for instance, can be used for phishing lures and social engineering while also aiding in threat detection. Meanwhile, attackers increasingly rely on automation, botnets, and AI to scale attacks.

51. Bot attacks rose by 145% in Q3 2024.
52. Every single healthcare site experienced a bot attack in 2024 (Indusface).
53. Advanced bots now make up 32% of web traffic, contributing to fraud and service disruption.

Sources: Sonicwall, Indusface

Supporting Cybersecurity with Exabeam

Exabeam is a leading provider of security information and event management (SIEM) solutions, combining UEBA, SIEM, SOAR, and TDIR to accelerate security operations. Its Security Operations platforms enable security teams to quickly detect, investigate, and respond to threats while enhancing operational efficiency.

Key Features:

• Scalable log collection and management: The open platform accelerates log onboarding by 70%, eliminating the need for advanced engineering skills while ensuring seamless log aggregation across hybrid environments.
• Behavioral analytics: Uses advanced analytics to baseline normal vs. abnormal behavior, detecting insider threats, lateral movement, and advanced attacks missed by signature-based systems. Customers report that Exabeam helps detect and respond to 90% of attacks before other vendors can catch them.
• Automated threat response: Simplifies security operations by automating incident timelines, reducing manual effort by 30%, and accelerating investigation times by 80%.
• Contextual incident investigation: Since Exabeam automates timeline creation and reduces time spent on menial tasks, it cuts the time to detect and respond to threats by over 50%. Pre-built correlation rules, anomaly detection models, and vendor integrations reduce alerts by 60%, minimizing false positives.
• SaaS and cloud-native options: Flexible deployment options provide scalability for cloud-first and hybrid environments, ensuring rapid time to value for customers. For organizations who can’t, or won’t move their SIEM to the cloud, Exabeam provides a market-leading, full featured, and self-hosted SIEM.
• Network visibility with NetMon: Delivers deep insight beyond firewalls and IDS/IPS, detecting threats like data theft and botnet activity while making investigation easier with flexible searching. Deep Packet Analytics (DPA) also builds on the NetMon Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) engine to interpret key indicators of compromise (IOCs).

Exabeam customers consistently highlight how its real-time visibility, automation, and productivity tools powered by AI, uplevel security talent, transforming overwhelmed analysts into proactive defenders while reducing costs and maintaining industry-leading support. For more information visit Exabeam.com