Every company, organization and person could fall victim to cybercrime, but some states in the U.S. are more likely to experience an attack, according to a new study from mobile and telecommunications company NetworkBuildz.
The study identified the states most at risk of cybercrime in 2024 based on the last five years of data provided by the FBI's Internet Crime Report.
According to NetworkBuildz, it examined annual FBI reports spanning 2018 to 2022 to collect the number of cyberattacks in each state over the last five years. It then looked at the number of attacks per 100,000 residents of each to determine which states are most susceptible to cybercrime and the cost of those crimes.
Nevada tops the list with 1,756 attacks per thousand residents, followed by Alaska, Maryland, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Washington, Delaware, California and Arizona.
Rank State Total cyberattacks over
the last five years Cyberattacks per
100,000 people 1 Nevada 54,515 1,756 2 Alaska 8,453 1,153 3 Maryland 58,627 951 4 Colorado 53,562 928 5 Florida 193,602 899 6 Iowa 28,256 886 7 Washington 67,434 875 8 Delaware 8,648 874 9 California 316,565 801 10 Arizona 53,318 746
Source: FBI’s annual Internet Crime Reports from the following years: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
“These findings also stress the financial dangers of cybercrime, highlighting the importance of staying informed about the latest scams, best online practices, and necessary precautions to help reduce the risks of cybercrime,” according to NetworkBuildz. In Nevada, for example, threats equated to a total victim loss of $320,052,803 over the five-year period reported. The number 2 and 3 most at-risk states, Alaska and Maryland, suffered $50,511,484 and $479,475,435, respectively.
According to FBI data, cybercrime in 2022 (the most recent data from the agency) amounted to an annual cost in the U.S. of $10.3 billion. The FBI also recommends that you report any cybercrime to its Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Blame it on COVID?“Seven of the top 10 states experienced the highest number of cybercrimes in 2020. This suggests that 2020 was a particularly detrimental year for cyber-attacks nationwide, possibly due to the vulnerable state of the global landscape due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report adds.
The 10 states at least risk, not surprising, tend to be more rural states: Oklahoma, North Carolina, Nebraska, West Virginia, Maine, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kansas, North Dakota and Mississippi.
Where does your state rank? Rank State Total cyberattacks overthe last five years 11 Indiana 741 12 Virginia 740 13 Oregon 652 14 Wisconsin 642 15 New York 635 16 Connecticut 621 17 Wyoming 617 18 New Jersey 613 19 Utah 606 20 New Mexico 606 21 Texas 587 22 Missouri 585 23 Massachusetts 585 24 Illinois 573 25 Pennsylvania 554 26 Rhode Island 550 27 Hawaii 535 28 Kentucky 535 29 South Carolina 533 30 Georgia 530 31 Michigan 524 32 Ohio 523 33 New Hampshire 518 34 Vermont 514 35 Montana 505 36 Idaho 494 37 Alabama 492 38 Tennessee 492 39 South Dakota 491 40 Minnesota 477 41 Oklahoma 470 42 North Carolina 468 43 Nebraska 463 44 West Virginia 458 45 Maine 457 46 Arkansas 455 47 Louisiana 449 48 Kansas 429 49 North Dakota 395 50 Mississippi 345
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