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As you work hard to select a trendy Halloween costume and finish stocking up on candy for trick or treaters, we recommend you take a moment to appreciate a real scare by reading through a list of frightening cybersecurity statistics and trends.
With the unstoppable impact of AI growing, small businesses and nonprofit organizations are facing a growing threat from more frequent and effective cyberattacks. To combat this imposing threat, your organization must make it a priority to work with an experienced IT Support partner and take the necessary steps for an elite level of IT security.
To give you a better sense of the cybersecurity challenges your business faces, please take a moment to review this long list of eye-catching statistics and trends compiled by cybersecurity experts. The companies and organizations researching and reporting on these alarming statistics are as follows: Fortinet, SentinelOne, Beyond Trust, VikingCloud, Veeam, Capgemini, Sophos, Cybersecurity Ventures, Sprinto, Cybersecurity Insiders, CybelAngel, Varonis, Verizon, Tech Jury, Imperva, Deepstrike, IBM, bright defense, and Small Business Trends.
Frightening Cybersecurity Statistics and Trends
- The annual average cost of worldwide cybercrime was nearly $11 trillion in 2025 and could reach a staggering $16 trillion by 2029.
- Companies are paying an average of $5 million per each cyber breach with the highest costs in the US. Small businesses can expect to pay an average of $120,000 to recover from a cyberattack.
- The average cost of ransomware increased by over 500% with payments averaging $2 million.
- 55% of SMB reported that it would take less than $50,000 in financial impact from a cyberattack to force them out of business.
- Microsoft is ending security support for its Windows 10 operating system in October 2025 making hundreds of millions of commercial and private devices vulnerable to hackers.
- Ransomware accounted for 59% of all cyberattacks with 32% of these attacks resulting from an unpatched vulnerability.
- Security experts predict that by 2031 a ransomware attack will hit a business or consumer every 2 seconds, which means businesses will face 43,200 attacks per day. In 2021 an attack happened every 11 seconds.
- Ransomware attacks target SMBs 70% of the time.
- 96% of ransomware attacks specifically target backup locations and repositories.
- Up to 98% of cyberattacks involve social engineering.
- 48% of businesses experienced frequent insider attacks over the last year.
- 33% of SMBs are working with outdated cybersecurity technology, and 20% of SMBs report having no cybersecurity technology at all.
- Almost a quarter of SMBs use the following weak passwords: a pet’s name, a series of numbers, or a family member’s name. About 60 percent of companies have more than 500 accounts with non-expiring passwords.
- 49% of SMBs report they lack proper training or a complete understanding of the cybersecurity risk.
- Experts estimate up to 70% of IoT or internet-connected devices are still vulnerable to cyber breaches. In 2025, there were 820,000 IoT attacks per day.
- Only 29% of SMBs rate their current cyber defenses as mature enough to withstand breaches.
- 30% of executives estimate that at least 2-4 cyber incidents are not reported to leadership annually.
- 97% of companies are reporting GenAI security issues and breaches.
- 16% of all cyber breaches involved AI with phishing and deepfake attacks leading the way.
- 99% of organizations have sensitive data exposed to AI tools, including Gen AI copilots and unsanctioned apps such as Shadow AI.
- Only 17% of small businesses encrypt data, while 53% of small businesses have more than 1,000 unencrypted sensitive folders.
- 53% of leaders said AI is creating new attack points for which they’re unprepared.
- Phishing attacks increased by 1,265% powered by the growth of Gen AI.
- Encrypted threats increased by 92% last year, and malware increased by 30%. 94% of malware is delivered by email.
- An estimated 24,000 malicious mobile apps are blocked daily on the internet.
- Bots accounted for 51% of all web traffic in 2025 with bad bots making up 37% of total internet traffic.
- IT security teams take an average of 277 days to identify and control a data breach. Illegal entries involving lost or stolen credentials take an average of 328 days to identify and contain.
- Only 25% of organizations with revenues less than $250 million have a cyber insurance policy.
- 83% of small businesses report being not financially prepared to recover from a cybersecurity attack, and only 23% of companies have a cyber incident response plan.
- 60% of supply chain organizations will use a cybersecurity risk assessment as a critical evaluation feature for third-party business engagements and transactions.
- Up to 570,000 cybersecurity professional roles remain unfilled in the U.S. alone with 3.5 million unfilled positions worldwide.
Consult with an IT Security Expert
After you have had a little time to reflect on these scary statistics and trends, we recommend you take effective action by consulting with a cybersecurity expert such as Network Depot, who will help your organization meet this imposing challenge.
A dependable IT Support partner will comprehensively evaluate your company’s current IT security state and work hand-in-hand with you to fill your security gaps. Your IT partner will make valuable recommendations on the most effective cybersecurity tools, staff training, and data security processes and policies and help you implement these applications and actions. Your trusted IT Support partner will also continuously monitor your network and will update your organization’s cyber defenses regularly to remain at the highest security level.
In addition to taking these critical steps, don’t forget to experience the fun of the Halloween season! It makes sense to relieve some of your cybersecurity stress by enjoying amusing costumes, haunted houses, hayrides, and your favorite Halloween treats.
Happy Halloween 2025!
