For what it is worth, one IT firm has taken existing data and projected that cybercrime will cost US$19.7tn in 2030

Based on estimations of the global cost of cybercrime*, a proxy service provider has derived an exponential growth model to forecast annual cybercrime costs until 2030.

If their forecast is accurate, the cost of cybercrime will increase to US$11.9tn in 2026, going all the way up to US$19.7tn in 2030.

Then, using factors such as various countries’ published measures and indices for cybercrime exposure, cybersecurity capabilities/preparedness, digital development, and legislative plans, the firm has forecast that the 10 countries at highest and lowest risk will include those from Europe and North America (safest) and also those in Latin America and the Middle East (at highest risk).

In the area of cyber trends, the firm has predicted that ransomware, phishing, and social engineering attacks will continue to be the most popular ways of committing cybercrime in 2025, noting that some of the biggest rises in attacks have been in cryptojacking (136%) and software supply chain attacks (300%).

The firm’s internal data also indicates that the USA is the country with most users rejected via the Know Your Customer process ((3.8%), followed by those in Vietnam (3.2%) and Indonesia (1.9%). These are also the three countries with most accounts suspended or locked due to potential malicious use.

As a provider of proxy solutions and other IT services, the firm announcing its cyber trend forecasts — Proxyrack — is expected to be a leader in having strong policies and measures that detect how its customers use/abuse its services. With its industry insights and predictions, the firm is recommending that organizations at risk adopt Zero Trust together with advanced threat detection technologies (Extended Detection and Response and AI-driven solutions) to prevent breaches and potential data misuse.

Other recommendations include strengthening employee cyber awareness training and investing in cybersecurity, cyber skills talent development; and canvassing for wider governmental collaboration and regulatory proactivity.

*specified for 2015 as US$3tn, for 2021 as US$6tn, for 2024 as US$9.5tn, and for 2025 as US$10.5tn by a certain cybersecurity magazine