The prodigious cyber attack on 13th May, 2017 used “WannaCry” ransomware, which infiltrated hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide, has shook various organizations worldwide, especially healthcare providers, and has left the world on high alert. Ransomware is used by hackers to encrypt data, lock computers and hold the information hostage in lieu of the ransom payments. In 2016, multiple medical organizations in the U.S. were victims of different ransomware attacks, which ended up paying thousands of dollars as ransom to recover their files. The latest attack has affected more than 0.3 million victims in 150 countries, with only a smaller amount of U.S. organizations affected. Among the most visibly affected were one-fifth of the U.K. healthcare providers which come under National Health Service, which threw the hospitals and patients into disarray, with surgeries being cancelled and patients being transferred. The authorities have identified this attack as “a continuing pattern of ransomware attacks.”
The cyber attack has also triggered political debates over the origin of the attack, as the U.S. is at risk of attacks from Iran, Russia and China, and the (still fresh) controversy over the involvement of Russia in the U.S. election has raised the concern of cyber security ever more in the country. With the digitization of businesses and industries all over the world, data loss for even a period of 24 hours can have massive repercussions and throw the market into a whirlpool of losses. This makes the files and data even more valuable and hence, it has become a necessity to protect the widespread clouds of information from such malicious attacks.
With 87% of internet penetration in the country, the U.S. acquires second place globally for online business activities and consumer transactions. Due to this digitization of business activities, the country is at a higher risk of cyber attacks. Various types of cybercrimes, such as ransomware, are rapidly increasing in North America, and on a global scale, which can further lead to business interruptions and financial losses. The average cost of cybercrime in the U.S. accounts to $15 million, which has doubled since 2010.
The rate of cybercrimes on the U.S. government has increased 10% as compared to 2014 and the cases of ransomware attacks has increased significantly. The attacks on government organizations and telecom operations caused a breach of 21.5 million personal information records and affected 15 million customers. Cyber criminals are now targeting healthcare, manufacturing, government and retail sectors as well, since these platform contain a massive number of personal and financial information. Canada has also witnessed a huge increase in the number of spear phishing emails and breaching of computer network over the recent years, and Mexico has been a target of cyber attacks which has crashed its financial sector.
The North American cyber security market is estimated to grow over $67 billion by the end of 2022, with cyber security solutions holding the largest share of the market because of the increasing cyber attacks in this region. The innovations in cyber security with Internet of things and Big Data will add to the levels of complexities and security challenges with regard to the various networks and systems. Thus, it will provide a range of opportunities to the market players to foster cyber security solutions in the North America region.
BIS Research has conducted an extensive market research on ‘North America Cyber Security Market: Analysis & Forecast: 2016-2022’. The market intelligence report aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the key development strategies, marketing strategies and market trend dynamics which includes drivers, restraints and opportunities prevailing in the industry.
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