ISSN 2319 – 1953 International Journal of Scientific Research in Computer Science Applications and Management Studies IJSRCSAMS Volume 7, Issue 5 (September 2018) www.ijsrcsams.com A Statistical and Theoretical Analysis of Cyberthreats and its Impact on Industries Mohammad Imran 1 , Tasleem Arif 1,2 , Mohammad Shoab 1 1 Department of Computer Science, College of Science & Humanities Al-Dawadmi, Shaqra University, KSA 2 Department of Information Technology, BGSB University Rajouri, J&K, India mimran@su.edu.sa,tarif@su.edu.sa,mshoab@su.edu.sa Abstract— With the rapid expansion in the usage of information and communication technologies (ICT) in social, economic and allied activities, cybersecurity has become a major nuisance for states, organizations, institutions, and individuals. As information and communication technology is spreading its influence in every facet of modern society, the risk of cyber threats is continuously increasing with each passing day. Cyber threat or data exfiltration can benefit the attacker without the consent of the victim, therefore, cybersecurity becomes an important factor for developing and maintaining participation in the digital society. Any institution or organization cannot earn trust until and unless they build a system that is secure and reliable and ensure the people that they have a requisite security mechanism in place, to ensure the safety of their data. This paper focuses on numbers and their theoretical analysis related to cyber threats, trends, impact, and diversity. An attempt has been made to discuss the cybersecurity in terms of threats, trends, major data breaches, etc. During the course of this work, it was observed that there has been a negative impact on industries by the cyberattack. Statistics from world- renowned organizations and institutions show that an increasing percentage of industries that have been victims of cyberattacks, which may increase further. Keywords—Cyber Threat, cybersecurity, Cryptojacking, crypto miner, ransomware I. INTRODUCTION With every passing day, we are being engulfed by the digital world, but with each progressing step in the virtual world the daunting question of cybersecurity arises, from common people to international organizations, each one seems equally susceptible. The more the degree of confidentiality associated with a resource, the more vulnerable it seems to potential attacks. Names as big as SONY and Marriott Hotels, had the bitter taste of cyberattacks and understand how dearly it could cost an institution or an organization? Thus, to say, cybersecurity is becoming one of the most important areas of concern for businesses and organizations, the world over, wouldn’t be an overstatement. Cyber threats are a harsh reality of today’s world, which we can’t afford to keep ignoring. With most of the processes being handled remotely, there is always a chance of a breach, of someone getting a hold of these processes and causing a lot of harm [1]. It is observed often that the attackers adopt new methods, techniques, and variety, for every other attack, thereby, making the majority of the defense mechanisms almost meaningless [1]. The attacks on computer and information networks are spreading at an astounding pace, which causes loss of confidentiality, integrity, and spreading of malicious software and programs [2]. As the size of and diversity of the network grows the number of threats also increase in parallel, and even worse, the complexity of these threats is also rising substantially. Trends depict the corresponding increase in the population of malicious users/attackers and growth of the network; this aggravates the situation as such unscrupulous elements are being armed with tools and techniques which are increasingly becoming sophisticated, efficient and effective [3, 4]. Identification, or at least approximation, of possible vulnerabilities and corresponding threats, carries utmost importance, because development or deployment of comprehensive set of security requirements is primarily based on the identified loopholes and requirements [5]. In order to devise effective strategies, it is important to understand the taxonomy of potential threats [24]. As a thumb rule, sound problem identification leads to sound solutions and systems. This paper is an attempt to further the understanding of cyber threats and the recent trends of threats in this domain. The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. Section 2 provides the concept and definition of Cyber threat and its major types. Section 3 identifies threat trends on major attacks and section 4 includes cyber threats impact on industries. Finally, the paper concludes with Section 5. II. CYBER THREATS Oxford Dictionary 1 defines cyberthreat as "the possibility of a malicious attempt to damage or disrupt a computer network or system." In other words, cyber threat is a generic term used to signify any type of malicious attempt to damage, disrupt or gain 1 https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/cyberthreat