Ani Petrosyan
Research expert for cybersecurity and cybercrime
Cybercrime and the financial industry in the United States - Statistics & Facts
Cyberattacks in the financial industry continue advancing. With the digitalization of most financial services, the protection of digital data of users and companies’ digital assets is a leading priority for financial firms. Financial cyberattacks either target users of online financial services or financial institutions directly, using various attack techniques. The range of cyberattacks in this industry is expanding from website-based attacks to interfering transaction systems, ransomware, and phishing.
In the United States, the amount of monetary loss due to financial fraud cases among seniors has increased immensely in recent years. The impersonation of payment systems is also a frequently detected cybercrime, with over 84 percent of incidents involving PayPal impersonation.
Monetary losses due to cyberattacks in the global financial industry rank as the second-highest after the healthcare industry for the third consecutive year.
Cross-industry comparison
In the United States, healthcare, critical manufacturing, and government facilities are targeted by ransomware attacks most often . Nevertheless, financial institutions are proven to be among the main targets for ransomware attacks. Because of the complexity of the industry, financial services are often involved in cyberattacks indirectly, through third-party vendors.Most common types of financial cybercrime
In case of major cyberattacks, threat actors might use multiple attack techniques, such as launching DDoS and ransomware attacks at the same time while demanding ransom payment. Furthermore, some threat actors organize phishing and business e-mail compromise attacks simultaneously, and using social engineering techniques in fraud attempts. Additionally, the basic web application attacks are aimed mostly at financial institutions.In the United States, the amount of monetary loss due to financial fraud cases among seniors has increased immensely in recent years. The impersonation of payment systems is also a frequently detected cybercrime, with over 84 percent of incidents involving PayPal impersonation.
Data breaches due to financial cyberattacks
Between 2019 and 2023, the number of data compromise incidents involving financial institutions increased by over 330 percent . The most significant case of a data breach resulting from financial cyberattacks in the United States dates back to 2019 and was the leakage of over 885 million personal and financial data points at First American Financial Corporation. This incident was and still remains one of the biggest such cases worldwide.Monetary losses due to cyberattacks in the global financial industry rank as the second-highest after the healthcare industry for the third consecutive year.
Privacy and security
Among the most common tools against financial cyberattacks is multi-factor authentication (MFA). As of 2022, almost three in four organizations in North America had deployed multi-factor authentication systems, and 29 percent were planning to implement them in the following 12 months. However, a 2023 survey of American adults found that 33 percent do not enable MFA systems because they found them annoying, and a further 23 percent found them complicated.Consumer attitudes
Personal data security is the leading factor for U.S. consumers in choosing a financial organization. However, even a thoroughly chosen organization does not guarantee trust. Around a third of adults in the market who have used PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, or Cash App were a little or not at all confident that these services keep people's information safe from hackers or unauthorized users.
