Cybersecurity statistics: What Canadian businesses are reporting

In a more connected Canada, organizations find more opportunities for value creation. However, increased connectivity also makes companies more vulnerable to cyberthreats. In fact, according to a report by Risk Based Security Inc., Canada is third among countries with the most number of incidents involving data breaches.

Should Canadian businesses be fearful of cybersecurity threats?

The short answer is yes, though the long answer is necessary reading.

The threat is real — and rising

Among the Canadian firms that took part in the 2017 Statistics Canada survey on cybercrime, 21% reported that their operations were affected by cybersecurity incidents. Note that this figure does not take into account firms that were either unaware of being adversely impacted or were unwilling to report cybersecurity incidents.

In the 2018 Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) Cybersecurity Survey Report, 40% of the respondents reported suffering cyberattacks in a span of 12 months, while 10% reported suffering frequent attacks — 20 or more incidents in a 12-month period. This is because malware programs can be set to autopilot — cybercriminals can attack their victims while they sleep.

Related article: Cybersecurity FYIs: How Canadian businesses have been impacted

Cybersecurity breaches negatively impact Canadian businesses

As per CIRA’s research, 44% of Canadians are reluctant to do business with firms that have suffered data breaches. Additionally, among the Statistics Canada survey respondents...

• ...54% said that their employees were prevented from working
• ...53% reported that resources such as desktops became inaccessible
• ...58% suffered downtime, which averaged 23 hours per business
• ...30% incurred extra repair or recovery costs
• ...10% lost income

Where are the threats coming from?

Among 1,985 Canadians who owned a “.ca” domain between November 2017 and January 2018...

• ...85% received at least one phishing email
• ...32% had users who unwittingly shared sensitive information
• ...22% suffered distributed denial of service
• ...19% were hit by ransomware

These numbers show that domain owners, most of whom use their websites to conduct business, can and do suffer more than one type of data breach.

Related article: What Canadian businesses must learn after spending $14B on cybersecurity

Numbers don’t lie — cybercrime is a malignant and persistent threat that Canadian businesses of any size can’t afford to ignore. There’s even a chance that your firm has been infiltrated without anyone in your company being aware of it. The sooner you’re on top of your cybersecurity situation, the better chances your business has of surviving in the years ahead.

Don’t let data security threats loom darkly over your business. Contact our cybersecurity consultants at XBASE Technologies to learn how to prevent data breaches as well as protect your firm from cybercriminals.