May 5, 2022

Cyberattack Target Alert: 6 Industries at Risk of an Attack

There is no industry safe from cyberattacks; in fact, anyone can be a cyberattack target. In the past year, the world has seen many types of cyberattacks. Just in 2021, we saw the largest pipeline in the U.S. and one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world impacted by a major cyberattack. Your small business is also a big target for hackers, Accenture reported 43% of cybercriminals go after SMBs.

These attacks are definitely not cheap. According to IBM, ransomware was the most popular attack of 2021 with an average cost of $4.6 million. With these big attacks comes a hefty amount of money your business can lose. The FBI found that business email compromise victims lost over $1.8 billion last year.

Where Does Your Industry Rank?

Any business that has sensitive information is a common target of hackers. Each industry has unique cyberattacks deployed by cybercriminals. Here are the six main industries that are the most targeted by cybercriminals.

1. Manufacturing

Taking the first-place spot, the manufacturing industry accounted for 23% of cyberattacks globally in the last year. Ransomware was the most common cyberattack the manufacturing industry experienced. Other common cyberattacks in this industry included server access attacks, business email compromise and data theft. In a survey by Deloitte, 38% of manufacturers surveyed had losses between $1 and $10 million.

2. Finance & Insurance

The finance and insurance industry accounted for 22% of all global cyberattacks. Of the businesses impacted, 70% were banks, 16% were insurance organizations, and 14% were other miscellaneous financial organizations. IBM reported the average total cost of a data breach in this industry was $5.72 million in 2021.

3. Business Services

Business services such as office administration, human resources, security services and more accounted for about 13% of attacks. Of the businesses attacked, 76% were professional service firms, 29% were IT-focused service providers and 24% were other business firms.

4. Energy

Energy makes up 8% of the cyberattacks seen in 2021. The most common attack against this industry was ransomware, followed by distributed denial of service, business email compromises, and more. Distributed denial of service occurs when a hacker floods a network with traffic, leading it to crash. In 2020, the energy industry had an average data breach cost of $6.39 million.

5. Retail & Wholesale

The retail and wholesale industry accounted for 7% of cyberattacks in 2021, with an average data breach cost of $3.37 million. Of these businesses, 65% were wholesale while 35% were retail. Top attacks seen in this sector included business email compromise, server access, data theft and credential harvesting.

6. Healthcare

The last industry impacted by cyberattacks is the healthcare sector at 5%. Of the attacks seen, 38% were ransomware — which is a higher percentage compared to other industries. According to Cybersecurity Ventures, the healthcare industry is expected to spend $125 billion on cybersecurity by 2025.

Overall, no matter what industry you’re in, your business can be a target of hackers. It’s important that you have a cybersecurity plan in place in order to protect your assets and defend yourself against any potential cyberattacks. If you’re looking to improve your current cybersecurity, consider partnering with an MSP.

Pavelcomm in Portland is here to help keep your business protected with top-line cybersecurity. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions related to cybersecurity.