Florida victims are losing more than a quarter of their annual income to cybercriminals every year, making the Sunshine State one of the worst in the nation for cyber attack losses, according to a new report.
The state ranks eighth nationwide for the highest proportion of income lost to cyber attacks, with victims losing an average of $20,000 each. Florida's total cybercrime losses reached a staggering $1 billion.
The research comes from SSL Dragon, a company that specializes in internet security certificates. They analyzed cybercrime data from all 50 states.
Nationally, California suffered the largest total cybercrime loss at more than $2.5 billion.
"The steep rise in financial losses to cybercrime across the country is alarming. Therefore, with our study, we aimed to find any regional patterns in targeting," Roman Munteanu said.
Munteanu is the CEO and founder of SSL Dragon.
"The findings suggest that criminals may be executing more sophisticated, higher-value attacks in states like Oregon and Wyoming, while conducting higher volumes of smaller-value scams in states like Alaska and Indiana," he said.
"Even more concerning is that these figures only represent reported crimes, and the actual financial impact is likely substantially higher."
Munteanu emphasized the importance of cybersecurity awareness and protective measures.
"With increasing financial losses to cybercriminals, the importance of cybersecurity awareness and protective measures is more important than ever before. Everyone, from individuals to businesses, should always remain vigilant and take steps such as implementing strong passwords, enabling two-factor authentication, and maintaining updated security software," he said.
"These are just a few essential steps everyone should take to help stay protected."
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