More than $1 trillion was spent on cybersecurity or given up as a result of a cyberattack last year, representing approximately one percent of the world’s GDP.
This is according to a report from Atlas VPN, which states that the majority ($945 billion) was lost due to cybersecurity incidents, while the remaining $145 billion was spent on putting protections in place.
Cybersecurity-related costs have risen by more than a half since 2018, during which year businesses spent just over $600 billion on security and incident response, while losses surged by 81 percent in the same timeframe.
Given the picture painted by these figures, Atlas VPN was surprised to find that many organizations still don’t recognize the dangers posed by cyberthreats. A fifth of organizations worldwide have no plan in place for how to defend themselves from threats, says the firm.
On the other hand, many businesses (44 percent) are relatively well-prepared, with firms based in Canada leading the way in this respect. More than half (55 percent) of Canadian organizations have a plan in place to shield against and manage cybersecurity-related incidents.
“No organization is completely immune to cyberattacks, while their consequences can be devastating. Therefore, both preventive and reactive cybersecurity strategies are essential if a company wants to mitigate cybercrime risks,” said Rachel Welch, COO at Atlas VPN. “Having an action plan should your organization get hacked is just as important as safeguarding it against such threats.”
