More than 14.5 billion malware-laced emails were sent in 2017, and there was a 1,000-percent increase in phishing efforts, according to AppRiver’s annual Global Security Report. The report also notes that 1.9 billion data records were lost or stolen as a result of cyberattacks in the first half of 2017 alone.
2017 illustrated a significantly lower barrier-of-entry to the world of cybercrime with the emergence of malware-as-a-service, with user profile names and credit card numbers readily available on the Dark Web and distribution of 20,000 messages for just $40.