10 Phishing-Related Cybercrime Statistics Every Business Owner Needs to See

October 07, 2021


Cybercrime Statistics Tell the Tale of Today’s Business IT Security Landscape

In a tumultuous year for businesses, the cybercrime boom of 2020 broke all records, and cybercriminals are definitely not slacking off in 2021. Worldwide, cybercrime costs small and medium businesses more than $2.2 million a year.  From increases in cloud data breaches to surging ransomware risk, the business cybersecurity landscape has been growing more dangerous and more expensive for businesses of every size. Chaos spawned by the global pandemic combined with surging nation-state cybercrime and technology evolution has spawned a fast-paced atmosphere that has spawned new vistas of opportunity for cybercriminals and new vistas of risk for businesses. An estimated 75% of IT managers said that their companies had been successfully phished in the last year.


See how to avoid cybercriminal sharks in Phishing 101. DOWNLOAD IT>>


10 Shocking Phishing-Based Cybercrime Statistics 


  1. Phishing remains the top data breach threat for the third year in a row.   
  2. Businesses experienced a 64% increase in overall email threat volume in 2020 
  3. An estimated 94 % of ransomware arrives at businesses via email 
  4. 51% of businesses worldwide were negatively impacted by ransomware in 2020 
  5. 74% of respondents in a 2021 survey said that their companies had been successfully phished in the last year 
  6. 80% of reported security incidents are phishing-related 
  7. Google has registered 2,145,013 phishing sites as of Jan 17, 2021. 
  8. Microsoft 365 built-in security and the 5 leading SEGs, miss up to 65% of targeted spear phishing messages.
  9. Consumers and organizations face 100,000 malicious websites and 10,000 malicious files daily.  
  10.  80% of IT professionals say that their organizations are facing a substantial increase in the number of phishing attacks that they’re combatting in 2021.

You’d think that all of the headlines about recent high-profile phishing and ransomware-related cyberattacks would have every business executive on their toes when it comes to cybersecurity, but you’d be wrong.  IBM reports that even with high-profile cyberattacks screaming from the headlines, an astonishing two-thirds of senior-level decision-makers said they didn’t believe the small- to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) for which they’re responsible would fall victim to a cyberattack in the next year – a dangerous assumption that could put them out of business.   


Learn the secret to ransomware defense in Cracking the RANSOMWARE Code. GET BOOK>>


Ransomware Cybercrime Statistics Illustrate the Danger of Phishing  


The most famous (or infamous) phishing-related cyberattack that businesses face today is undoubtedly ransomware. Statista reports that just under 70% percent of businesses worldwide have been victimized by ransomware in 2021, a steep increase from the three preceding years and the highest figure reported so far. No matter where you are in the world, ransomware is a pitfall that your business faces every day. Organizations located in Asia (33%) and North America (30%) and Europe (27%) were the hardest hit by ransomware attacks in 2020 and carry the most risk in 2021. Any organization that takes a hit from a ransomware attack is going to hemorrhage money. Ransomware losses in 2021 are already up more than 300% over the same period last year, beating 2020’s record-setting pace.   

That should be alarming to SMBs. Just one cyberattack can be a death blow for an MB. The exorbitant costs, lost revenue and reputation damage that a business suffers in the wake of a ransomware incident are often simply too steep for many businesses to survive – 60% of companies go out of business within 6 months after a cyberattack like a ransomware incident. The size of a business is not a deterrent for ransomware gangs either. You may think that your business is too small for ransomware threat actors to bother with, but that’s not true – 55% of ransomware attacks now involve companies with fewer than 100 employees. 


What’s next in phishing? Find out in the 2021 State of Email Security Report! GET IT NOW>>


Cybercrime Statistics Show That Phishing is a Hazard No Business Can Afford 


This year’s ISACA State of Cybersecurity 2021 Survey, takes a deep dive into just how fraught the business cybersecurity landscape is with risk – and one risk stands alone atop everyone’s threat list: Phishing. In that survey, 35% of the business cybersecurity leaders surveyed reported that their organizations are experiencing a significant uptick in cyberattacks like phishing in 2021. While that number may not look impressive, it’s very disturbing. That’s three percentage points higher than was recorded in that survey in 2020, a record-breaking year for phishing worldwide – phishing was up by more than 600% in Q2 2020 alone.   

The cost of a phishing attack hasn’t declined either. In fact, the cost of phishing has nearly quadrupled over the past six years: Large U.S. companies are now losing, on average, $14.8 million annually, or $1,500 per employee. The precipitate rise in phishing threats has also given way to a precipitate rise in the in pricing for cyber insurance, up by 56% in the US and 35% in the UK. Insurance industry experts point to the most notorious phishing-based cyberattack, ransomware, as the culprit. Ransomware cyber insurance claims worldwide clocked a 260% increase in 2020 as cybercriminals turned up the heat. 


Phishing-Related Cybercrime Statistics in the US & UK 


74% of organizations in the United States have fallen victim to a successful phishing attack that resulted in a data breach in the last 12 months.  

The US is the leader in phishing-related data breaches for 2021 so far, with rates 30% higher than the global average, and 14% higher than the same period in 2020.   

73% of UK organizations have suffered at least one data breach caused by phishing attacks in the last year. 


Cybercrime Statistics Show That a Strong Defense Against Phishing is Critical. Graphus Can Help.  


Close to a third of SMB respondents to a 2020 study named a lack of budget as the greatest barrier between their companies and a strong defense against cybercrime like phishing, In a time of pinched business budgets, that’s a valid concern – 62% of IT departments say that their budgets are going down even as cybercrime numbers keep climbing. Businesses need affordable, effective security solutions that can solve problems like mitigating phishing risk fast – and Graphus delivers.  

Stop phishing immediately with Graphus – the most simple, automated and affordable phishing defense available today. Using AI-powered, automated email security is a smart move for businesses of every size. You’ll gain a powerful guardian that protects your business from some of today’s nastiest threats like spear phishing, business email compromise, ransomware and other horrors that will fit perfectly into your IT budget. Plus, automated security is up to 40% more effective at spotting and stopping malicious messages like phishing email than a SEG or conventional security. 

Don’t wait until cybercriminals are dangling tempting lures in front of your employees to take action and provide your business with best-in-class email security. Let us show you how the triple-layered protection that your business gets from Graphus is exactly what you need to keep your organization safe from phishing.  


Stay safe from even the most sophisticated cyberattacks and social engineering scams

Put the powerful TrustGraph® AI of Graphus to work for your business, and in minutes you’ll get a powerful, easy-to-use, and customizable EmployeeShield® against phishing attacks.
Get a Demo of Graphus