Australia had the fourth-highest cybercrime density in the world in 2022 finds Surfshark research | #cybercrime | #computerhacker

Research by security vendor Surfshark finds that 801,000 people fell victim to cybercrime worldwide during 2022, including 2,500 Australians making us the fourth in the world by cybercrime density – 106 out of every million Internet users in Australia.

Surfshark’s research identified that of 801,000 cybercrime victims – with ten billion dollars in losses – 106 Australians were victims out of every million Internet users in the country. While that’s a total of 2,500 Aussies, the density places us fourth in the world for cybercrime density.

This means while on a global scale, our overall volume of cybercrime incidents may seem small, the reality is Australians are being tricked by criminals, or having their data breached, more than any other country in the world except for simply three others – the United Kingdom takes the top spot, followed by the United States and Canada.

“Last year, 801k people fell victim to cybercrime worldwide, resulting in a total of ten billion dollars in losses. Because of how lucrative cybercrime is, there’s no reason to think cybercriminals will stop striking anytime soon. That’s why it’s more important than ever to be vigilant and build up your cybersecurity defences, which goes for businesses and individuals alike”, says Surfshark spokeswoman Gabriele Racaityte-Krasauske.

Other findings from Surfshark’s research are:

There was a very minor 4.8% increase in cybercrime density between 2021 and 2022, but Australia remained the fourth country in the world by cybercrime density in both years.

• The UK topped the list for cybercrime density with a staggering 4,371 cybercrime victims per million internet users.
• Phishing was the most common cybercrime in the world in 2022, with 300k reported victims.
• Investment fraud was the most financially devastating cybercrime in 2022 and cost the world a total of 3.3 billion USD in losses.

Surfshark says 36.4 billion USD have been stolen by cybercriminals since 2001, and yearly losses have been on an upward trend throughout this whole period. In 2022 alone, 10.3 billion USD were stolen by cybercriminals, compared to 6.9 billion in 2021 and 4.2 billion in 2020. These days, with the soaring inflation rates and troubling economic situation worldwide, losing money to cybercrime is all the more devastating.

Witnessing the rising number of cybercrimes, Surfshark developed the Data Vulnerability Thermometer combining open-source FBI information and research algorithms. The online tool gives users their risk score, possible specific cybercrimes, and prevention tactics depending on the data points selected. 

The Data Vulnerability Thermometer also contains descriptions, typology, tips, and statistics of 20 different internet crime offences aimed at individual users. This encyclopedia also has extensive coverage of statistics on trends and patterns in the field of cybercrimes. Users can check global cybercrime density statistics, financial impact, yearly growth of cybercrime costs, victim count by age, and more.

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