Today, cybersecurity plays a vital role in businesses. For this, companies invest millions of dollars in the development of their digital infrastructure. Global cybercrime costs surge 12x faster than the total cybersecurity spending, which is an alarming increase in cyber threats.

The data provided by Stocklytics.com shows that in 2018, the total cybersecurity spending increased by 78 percent while there is an increase of 972 percent in the cybercrime cost in the same period.

According to Statista, by 2024, the total spending on cybersecurity is expected to reach $183 billion, over 78 percent more than the one reported six years ago, as cybercrime costs surge 12x faster.

The different types of cyber attacks, encompassing cyber espionage, ransomware, phishing, and data breaches, will cause damages estimated to US$9.2 trillion in the year 2024. This highlights an increase of US$1.1 trillion compared to the previous year and a whopping 972 percent higher than the past six years.

According to the report, cybercrime is estimated to cost an astonishing US$13.8 trillion by 2028, an increase of 49% from this year. The global cybercrime costs surge 12x fast even with a higher budget for cybersecurity; cyber threats are increasing rapidly at a larger scale and sophistication.

Businesses and organizations around the world have made a significant investment in cybersecurity measures, with US$102.7 billion. Within two years, the number rose to over US$150 billion as cybercrime costs surge 12x faster

The report further stated that in 2025, spending on global cybersecurity is projected to reach US$200 billion. This is 50 times less than the annual cost of cybercrime.

According to the report, "This cost includes stolen money, damage and destruction of data, lost productivity, theft of intellectual property, theft of personal or financial data, post-attack disruption to the ordinary course of business, restoration, and deletion of hacked data and systems, and reputational harm."

As cybercrime costs surge 12x faster, businesses must adopt proactive cybersecurity measures. This means more than investing in the latest tools and technologies; one must create awareness of cybersecurity internally within the organization and proactively take action once it gets cyber threat alerts. One vital thing to do is strengthen the employees by training them to respond to primary cyber threats, setting up strong security controls, and conducting regular security audits.