Cybersecurity Awareness Month is in its 19th year, though much like the proliferation of the internet, cybercriminals have also flourished because there are more potential victims out there. The month-long observance, initiated as a public-private partnership back in 2004, is an annual reminder that vigilance is the price of immaculate cyber hygiene. This year, Spiceworks looks at the top cyber crime and cyber defense insights by domain experts.
According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Report 2021, the federal agency’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 847,376 complaints (up 7%) last year that caused losses of nearly $6.9 billion. While a 7% rise may seem insignificant, data from the previous five years tells a different story.
Cybercriminal Complaints and Losses Between 2017-2021 | Source: FBI IC3
So there you have it. The surge in cybercriminal activity directly correlates to the increase in the attack surface. “To take a step back, the evolution from an onsite work model to the new paradigm of WFH or WFA, as well as hybrid, wasn’t without its challenges. Perhaps one of the biggest bumps along the way was figuring out how people…
