You may understand that there is a constant threat of being attacked by online hackers, but do you know where these attacks are coming from? Do you know whether you are under serious threat or not? And what is your company doing to protect themselves from these threats? Cybersecurity companies around the globe are constantly monitoring network activity in an effort to detect dangerous threats. From the efforts of these cybersecurity companies come fascinating stats that tell us who’s being attacked and who is doing the attacking. By analyzing where attacks are coming from and who is being attacked, you will learn more about what kind of threat you are in.
Before anything else, let’s give you what you came here for, the statistics…
Countries Making Attacks:
- China – 21%
- United States – 11%
- Brazil – 7%
- Russia – 6%
- India – 5%
- Japan – 4%
Countries Facing Threats:
- United States – 38%
- India – 17%
- Japan – 11%
- Taiwan – 7%
- Ukraine – 6%
- South Korea – 6%
If you are wondering where and how these kinds of numbers are found, there are numerous attack maps that display what cybersecurity companies are reading through their monitoring efforts. However, that may not explain how the cybersecurity companies are able to locate who are being affected and where the attack is coming from; the attacks are located with things such as geofilters and other software that can identify each detected activity through the IP address it comes from. The specific statistics above are from Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report and are based on numbers from 2015 through 2017.
Now, what’s truly interesting is looking at these numbers and asking yourself, “why these countries?” and “what does it mean?”
First, looking at the attacking companies, it is worth noting that the top-six countries make up just about 55 percent of the world’s cyber attacks. That leaves 45 percent of all other attacks dispersed amongst a plethora of other countries. However, pay attention to what the majority of these countries have in common: larger populations and/or more advanced technologies. Those two factors might saturate the results a little bit.
While the top-six attacking countries make up 54 percent of all attacks, the top-six countries that are under attack make up an astonishing 85 percent of all countries in threat. Further, the United States is by far more targeted than anyone else; they received double the number of attacks as the second country on the list, India. The question is, why these countries? It would appear that the countries with the most economical and political power are under the most attack. According to Symantec, 90 percent of these attacks target intelligence, 11 percent is for disruption, and 9 percent is for financial purposes.
What This Means for Small Businesses
In closing, the cost of an average breach for companies worldwide is $3.86 million dollars, and the average cost of a breach for a U.S. company is $7.91 million dollars. What does this mean for your small business? It’s not just government entities and large corporations that find themselves the target of international cybercrime. In 2021 – it’s found that 60% of small businesses go out of businesses within six months following a cyber attack. Cybercriminals know that small businesses are unlikely to have up to date computer security compared to a well funded corporation – it makes sense that SMBs make attractive targets for cybercrime.
If you are a company in the United States, you are under attack more than double any other company outside of the U.S. To be sure you are safe from these attacks, contact a reliable cybersecurity company like LG Networks, Inc. We have solutions and SOC-as-a-Service that will greatly benefit you and your small business.
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