Oregon tops new index of ‘heavily at risk’ cybercrime areas

Image: © AFP/File

New research reveals how much victims of cybercrime lose on average in each U.S. state. This reveals that Oregon residents face the highest average losses due to cybercrime at a staggering $65,045 per victim, which is more than double any other state. 

In addition, Alaska recorded the highest rate of cybercrime victims in the country at 915 per 100,000 residents, despite having the lowest average financial loss per victim at $3,884. 

The study comes from the firm SSL Dragon. This shows where people are hit hardest financially by cybercrime, in relation to the U.S. The analysis examined cybercrime data across all 50 states from the Internet Crime Complaint Center and the U.S. Census Bureau, identifying vast regional differences in both the frequency of attacks and their financial impact on victims across the U.S. 

Data on cybercrime counts and loss rates were gathered and, for each state, the total victims, total losses, and the losses per victim were calculated and used to rank the states from highest loss to lowest. 

The 15 states with the highest cybercrime loss per victim  

Oregon was revealed as the most financially devastating state for cybercrime victims, with an average loss of $65,045 per victim, which is more than double the amount of any other state. This is based on an overall loss of more than $586 million across 9,013 victims in just one year. Oregon also ranked with the highest total losses per 100,000 state population at $13.7 million. 

Wyoming residents faced the second-highest average losses at $31,592 per victim, facing a total annual loss of $43.5 million and 1,377 victims. Despite its small population, Wyoming’s high per-victim losses indicate sophisticated targeting of the state’s residents. 

New Jersey ranked third with average losses of $27,710 per victim. The state’s total cybercrime losses reached $435 million, with a total of 15,702 residents falling victim to cybercrime in the year analysed. 

California recorded the highest overall financial loss from cybercrime, with total losses exceeding $2.5 billion. The Golden State ranked fourth in average loss per victim at $26,389, with 96,351 Californians falling victim in 12 months. 

Connecticut completed the top five with average losses of $25,262 per victim. The New England state saw total cybercrime losses of almost $143.9 million across 5,695 reported victims. 

Nevada ranks sixth with an average loss per victim of $25,130, where 10,726 residents were victimized by cybercrime and lost a total of $269.5 million. New York placed seventh for average losses at $24,782 per victim across 36,479 victims, with a total cybercrime cost of $904 million. 

North Dakota ranked eighth with average losses of $24,641 per victim, though the state had the nation’s lowest victim count at just 886 reported incidents. Massachusetts took ninth place with average losses of $23,769 per victim and a total financial loss of nearly $339 million.  New Hampshire rounded out the top ten with average losses of $22,569 per victim. Despite its smaller population and a total of 2,340 victims. 

The study aimed to find any regional patterns in targeting. 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.