Finland is the happiest country on Earth. According to the World Happiness Report, it has been for six years in a row. It’s not surprising, given that Finland is the home of Santa Claus, reindeer and one sauna for every 1.59 people.
100 Mind-Blowing Report Facts
Dead skin cells are a main ingredient in household dust. Here’s an interesting science fact for you: According to researchers at Imperial College London, humans shed around 200 million skin cells each hour—and they have to go somewhere when we’re indoors. If the idea of skin dust isn’t sitting well with you, you should know that a report from the American Chemical Society found that a skin oil called squalene naturally helps reduce indoor ozone levels by up to 15 per cent.
The British Empire was the largest in world history. The British Empire was most powerful in the 1920s, when it controlled 23 per cent of the world’s population and approximately 13.7 million square miles of territory—or nearly a quarter of the Earth’s land area, according to a report from Statista.
Great Britain once had a number where you can report rogue traffic cones. Britain launched a hotline in 1992 to improve public services. However, this policy was mocked for being pointless and a waste of government funds.
In South Korea, there is an emergency number to report suspected spies (it’s 113!)
More than 86% of U.S. households have at least one car for every driver in the home. And 28% report having more cars than drivers!
Research shows that people who laugh at dark jokes have higher IQs and report less aggressive tendencies.
Jobs in the tech industry are continually on the rise, according to the CompTIA Tech Jobs Report.
According to a Finances Online article, 72% of U.S. consumers credit AR with better collaboration at work, 69% report increased efficiency at work and 61% credit AR with better marketing.
In South Korea, there is an emergency number (113) to report spies.
So Far, in 2024, The Worldwide Antivirus Software Market has Increased to $4.25 Billion. According to a report from The Businesses Research Company, the worldwide market of Antivirus Software has expanded from $4.06 billion in 2022 to $4.25 billion in 2023. It shows a CAGR rate of 4.5% between the two years for the industry.
The Number of Malware Attacks is Still Increasing. In a recent 2022 report by SonicWall, the number of virus and malware attacks expanded by 2% in 2022, recording 5.55 billion attacks.
ESET Antivirus Blocked More Than 93% of Targeted Hacks in 2022. According to a report, ESET antivirus blocked over 100 million targeted attacks in 2022. In addition, the software stopped over 90% of zero-day attacks last year.
IoT Gadgets are Becoming More Prone to Cyberattacks. According to a report from SonicWall, while the number of ransomware continually decreases each year, the number of IoT devices being exploited by cyberpunks keeps increasing.
The US is the Most Prepared Country for Cybercrime. While companies globally report ransomware attacks affecting their businesses, firms in the United States are increasingly ready. These companies have 47% of cyber-resilience strategies implemented.
Cybercrime has Increased by 600% Since Covid-19. According to a Cybersecurity Ventures report, there has been a staggering 600% increase in cyberattacks since the commencement of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some possible reasons include the rise in remote working, the rise in malware, and the rise in online activity.
Avast Antivirus Blocked 35.4 Billion Malware Attacks in 2022. Avast’s 2022 Threat Report showed that the Avast Antivirus detected and blocked 35.4 billion malware attacks in 2022. In 2021, the antivirus blocked 28.8 billion malware attacks, leading to an increasing number of malware attacks.
Norton Security has the Highest Number of Paid Users in 2022. A report showed that Norton Security recorded the highest number of premium users in 2022, with over 23.3 million paid users. McAfee (with 15 million paid users) and BitDefender (with 10 million paid users) followed Norton.
Approximately 33 Million Businesses in the United States Used Paid Versions of Antivirus Software in 2023. Approximately 33 million businesses use premium antivirus software to improve Internet security, password management, and secure browsing. The report from 2022 shows that 25 million businesses use premium antivirus software today.
In 2023 a data breach investigation report stated that 97 percent of threat actors were financially motivated. (Verizon)
The most expensive part of a hack is the lost information (Accenture): According to Accenture’s report on the costs of cybercrime, the most expensive component of any breach is a loss of information. The los of information costs around $5.9 million, Accenture notes. What’s more, the number of hacking attacks focused on targeting specific people or personal data is increasing. Malware and web-based hacking have increased significantly in recent years. RiskBased Security found in 2020, data breaches exposed around 36 billion records in the first half of the year – double the number of records exposed in all of 2019.
Attacks involving compromised passwords cost SMBs around $384,598 per attack (Ponemon Institute and Keeper Security): According to a report by the Ponemon Institute and Keeper Security, 68% of SMBs worldwide say their employees’ passwords were lost or stolen in 2019. Additionally, 68% also said employees using weak passwords was one of the biggest causes of hacking issues. Attacks involving compromised passwords cost around $384,598 per attack. Unfortunately, only 48% of companies require employees to use strong or unique passwords, and 55% of brands say they don’t have employee password usage policies. Only 38% of SMBs stop employees from using the same password on all internal systems.
55% of phishing sites used target brand identities in URLs for hacking (F5 Labs): The 2020 report from F5 Labs on phishing and hacking found a massive increase in the number of phishing attacks in 2020. There were 15% more phishing attacks in 2020 compared to 2019. 55% of all phishing attacks also target brand names and identities of other companies in their URL, domain name, or path to trick customers.
Credentials are the most sought-after data in a hack (Verizon): Verizon’s report for 2021 on data security found that credentials are still one of the most sought-after data types, followed by personal data like social security numbers, names, and addresses. This demonstrates the importance of users protecting their own data and business data when using digital assets. IBM’s data report for 2021 also found hackers to be in search of personal details. The most common records compromised in this report were customer PII and anonymized customer data.
More than 85% of breaches in 2021 involved a human element (Verizon): The Verizon Data Breach Investigations report for 2021 found around 85% of breaches involved a human element, and 61% involved using an employee’s credentials stolen from the business. In 2021, the majority of attacks came from social engineering, phishing, and Denial of Service attacks, according to Verizon. Particularly, Phishing became one of the most significant threats during the pandemic.
60% of senior decision-makers still aren’t taking cybersecurity seriously (Keeper Security): A report by Keeper Security found around 60% of decision-makers in small to mid-sized companies place cybersecurity at the bottom of their list for things to invest in. Small businesses with less than 500 employees in particular are most likely to believe they won’t fall victim to a cyber-attack. Two out of three senior SMB leaders say cyber attacks are unlikely. Perhaps more worryingly, around one out of four senior leaders in this report said they have no idea where to get started with their cybersecurity measures.
In 2021 the most common initial attack vector was compromised credentials (IBM): IBM reported the most common initial attack vendor to be compromised credentials in hacking cases. In other words, this is when people lose their username or password. Compromised credentials accounted for around 20% of attacks, while phishing was responsible for 17%, and cloud misconfiguration led to around 15% of hacks. Though business email compromise was responsible for only 4% of hacking incidents in this report, it also had the highest average cost at around $5.1 million per attack. The second most expensive initial attack vector was phishing, at around $4.56 million.
A Penny Costs More to Make than It’s Worth: A recent report from the U.S. Mint says it costs 2.1 cents to make a penny. Why the increase? Part of the rise could be the higher prices of copper and zinc, both of which are used to make pennies.
A SlashNext report called The State of Phishing 2023 reveals a 1,265% increase in phishing emails since ChatGPT launched, “signalling a new era of cybercrime fueled by generative AI.”
ChatGPT initially used a Microsoft Azure supercomputing infrastructure powered by Nvidia GPUs, which Microsoft constructed specifically for OpenAI and cost “hundreds of millions of dollars,” according to a Bloomberg report.
According to a SemiAnalysis report, OpenAI requires ~3,617 HGX A100 servers (28,936 GPUs) to serve Chat GPT so the cost per query is about 0.36 cents.
AI Can Boost the Operating Profits of the Automotive Industry: According to Capgemini’s Accelerating Automotive’s AI Transformation report, major automakers will be able to increase operating profits by 16 per cent through the deployment of Artificial Intelligence in production facilities and supply chain operations. Gains will come from reductions in operating costs, including raw materials, labour, administration, logistics, maintenance, and inspection.
GA PWC report from this year found that 96% of respondents intend to utilise AI simulations like digital twins. Simulations are massive in AI, as they can speed up risk analysis, provide insights, predict supply chain dynamics, and so on.