Cybercrime moves out of the shadows
Cybercrime is emerging from the dark web, with equipment confiscated from a cyberscam operation in Cambodia revealing how fraudsters ensnare victims online. The actual cumulative cost of cyberattacks in 2024 was $9.5trn, and the rate of increase is on target to reach $10.5trn by 2025.
Cybercrime magazine predicted this surge in 2020, and many considered the estimate to be wildly exaggerated. However, it is turning out to be absolutely correct.
The damage is mounting by the day, with South Korean e-commerce platform Coupang taking a hit in December 2025 that stole the personal details of nearly 35 million users. A month earlier, attackers cracked the commercially sensitive data of over 200 companies connected through the system of Salesforce, a customer relationship management platform.
In September, the assembly lines of British automotive giant Jaguar Land Rover ground to a halt for several weeks after a ransomware attack that cost the group about $2.2bn in lost production.
And in April, cyber-criminals penetrated the digital and in-store operations of one of the UK’s favourite retailers, Marks & Spencer, with devastating effect – the group suffered a loss of between £200m–£300m.
Warren Buffett described cybercrime as a bigger threat to humanity than nuclear weapons. The founder of a cyberprotection company told how he was able to convince sceptical major banks that they were highly vulnerable. “I asked the board permission for my experts to try and hack into their systems,” he said. “I estimated it would take 20 minutes.” And it usually did.
In December 2025, a Russia-linked group named Electrum knocked out about 30 sites in Poland’s energy grid.
In January 2026, Pakistan’s Transparent Tribe launched a campaign on a wide variety of Indian institutions, including government departments, in retaliation for fighting on the border.
Also in January, a unit of Russia’s military intelligence service placed a creeping multi-stage infection in government departments in Central and Eastern Europe.
The Centre for Strategic and International Studies reports that in 2025, major cybercrime attacks on businesses were dominated by massive cryptocurrency thefts, sophisticated third-party vendor breaches, and disruptive ransomware.
To take just ransomware, a gang was able to halt emergency services across several American states in an attack at OnSolve, a critical risk management provider, in a CodeRED alert system breach.
In 2025, the worst year so far for cybercrime, Japanese brewer Asahi had to stop all production across the entire Asia-Pacific, while Australia’s Qantas airline suffered a data leak of about five million customers. The ingenuity of cybercriminals keeps improving, with one of their favourite scams being ‘CEO fraud’ whereby the criminal poses as the boss by using artificially generated videos and voice to trick an employee into transferring money or disclosing commercially confidential information.
Although there is insurance cover against cybercrime, it is expensive in what is a fast-growing market. In 2024, according to market sources, premiums valued at $15.3bn were written, and they are rising all the time. One of the giants of the industry, Munich Re, estimates the market will hit $32.4bn by 2030. But of course, the economic damage has already been done.
Experts are also concerned about the rise of username scams, which can be used to trick people into divulging sensitive information.
Furthermore, the issue of child safety online is becoming increasingly important, as cybercriminals target vulnerable individuals.
