Visualizing the 5 Most Common Cybersecurity Mistakes

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37 seconds ago

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May 20, 2024 Article/Editing:

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The 5 Most Common Cybersecurity Mistakes

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Cyber attacks are becoming more prevalent with increasingly damaging outcomes, presenting new cybersecurity risks to users.

But in spite of the ever-evolving threat landscape, many of the best defenses remain the same. This includes the basics like creating strong passwords and avoiding malicious links. Yet often, people take unnecessary risks due to convenience, among other factors.

This graphic shows the top cybersecurity mistakes in 2023, based on data from Proofpoint.

The Most Common Mistakes Made by Users

Below, we rank the most common risky actions that people made online in 2023, based on a survey of 7,500 end users across 15 countries:

Risky Action / Cybersecurity MistakeShare of Users Who Reported Taking This Action Using work device for personal activities29% Reusing or sharing password26% Connecting without using a VPN at a public place26% Responding to a message from someone they don’t know24% Accessing inappropriate websites20%

Overall, 71% of respondents said they made a cybersecurity mistake, with the vast majority doing so knowingly.

As we can see, the most common error was using a work device for personal activities followed by reusing or sharing a password. These actions were shown to be motivated by convenience, time-saving benefits, or urgency across users.

Ranking in third was connecting to WiFi networks in public spaces without using a virtual private network (VPN). This presents risks, because when a user connects to public WiFi, it exposes them to unsecured networks. These networks allow cybercriminals to intercept sensitive information, such as login credentials and personal messages.

By using a VPN, it prevents malicious actors from stealing personal information through creating an encrypted tunnel that hides a user’s location and other personal data.

Top Cybersecurity Risks, According to Professionals

While the above data deals with the most common risks taken by users, the same report by Proofpoint also highlights the professional view around what risks are actually the most dangerous.

According to

Visualizing Global Losses from Financial Scams

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2 hours ago

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May 13, 2024 Article/Editing:

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

Visualizing Global Losses from Financial Scams

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Last year, financial scams led to almost half a trillion dollars in losses worldwide, roughly equal to the GDP of Singapore.

As fintech has advanced globally, cyber-criminals have exploited various platforms in complex attacks. Often, they will steal customers’ account information on digital payment systems and online banking sites as a highly lucrative form of attack.

This graphic shows the scale of financial losses from scams and schemes, based on data from Nasdaq’s Global Financial Crime Report for 2024.

The Most Common Types of Financial Scams

In 2023, there were $485.6 billion lost in total from financial scams, and below we break down the specific scams that generated the biggest losses:

Type of Financial Scam/Scheme
Global Losses (USD) Payments Fraud$386.8B Credit Card Fraud$28.6B Check Fraud$26.6B Advance Fee Scams$19.1B Cyber-enabled Scams$10.0B Impersonation Scams$6.8B Employment Scams$3.9B Confidence Scams$3.8B Total$485.6B Payments Fraud the Top Financial Scam

Payments fraud makes up a staggering 80% of the total. This type of fraud occurs when payment methods are illegally manipulated to deceive or steal from a person or business.

One example of a key risk point for payments fraud are real-time payments. Here, fraudsters exploit payment systems through rerouting fund transfers. Along with this, cyber-criminals will use “banking trojans” as a primary weapon to hack account information. This type of attack lures users to click on a malicious PDF file, website, or app which steals information on a device.

Interestingly, a separate analysis showed that Brazil was the top country in the world for banking trojan scams, with 1.8 million attempted attacks over the course of June 2022 to July 2023.

Going further, business email compromise, a type of payments fraud, was the source of $6.7 billion in losses in 2023. These types of scams involve fraudsters masquerading as legitimate businesses to deceive unsuspecting customers into sending payments into fraudulent accounts.

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