Hacking is a practice that is as old as computers. The term “hacker” dates back to the 1960s. Experts at MIT coined the term to refer to highly talented and skilled programmers who practiced hardcore programming in old languages. Over the years, this term developed a poor reputation.

Today, “hacker” is exclusively used in a negative sense, referring to individuals who commit cybercrimes. Hackers, otherwise known as cybercriminals, find new and creative ways to exploit bugs and poor software or hardware design to steal, corrupt, or encrypt data and wreak chaos in computer systems and networks.

With the number of cyberattacks increasing every day, it’s hard to keep track of the statistics, facts, and understand which cyber threats await us in the future. This is why we have conducted the in-depth research contained in this article. If you wish to fully grasp the world of cyber attacks by using verified numbers, you’ve come to the right place.

General cyber-attack stats: what’s most often hacked and how frequently?

Cyber attacks are not entirely random. After examining the numbers more closely, you can spot some patterns emerging. Simply put, it appears that hackers prefer some data types more than others. It’s pretty interesting to dive deeper into these numbers.

What types of data are most often compromised? What motivates the hackers to commit crimes? What type of malware is most commonly used? Scroll down to find answers to these questions.