Global Cyber Losses Could Hit $6 Trillion by 2021

Annual global cyber losses are expected to reach $6 trillion by 2021, and total cyber security spending is set to surpass $1 trillion over the five years leading up to 2021, according to a report released by Aon.

The number of cyber events businesses experience has increased each year. Additionally, the average total cost of a data breach rose from $3.62 million in 2017 to $3.86 million in 2018, and now to $3.92 million in 2019, with the average cost of each lost or stolen confidential personal record beginning at $150. Beyond the cost of lost records and business interruptions, companies also face reputational damage in the wake of a cyber event.

“Some companies still don’t fully understand the impact a cyber attack can have on a business,” said Onno Janssen, Aon’s CEO of Risk Consulting & Cyber Solutions EMEA. “Understanding the worst-case scenarios and their impact to a business is crucial to developing an effective resilience strategy in which cyber is managed as an enterprise-wide risk across the entire organization.”

Cyber risk, and the technology used to prevent it, are always evolving. Businesses must be proactive in finding the right solution to counteract it, and they must be willing to constantly improve to stay ahead of cyber threats.