18% of businesses affected by cybersecurity incidents last year: StatCan

A new Statistics Canada report says 18 per cent of Canadian businesses were impacted by cybersecurity incidents last year, down from 21 per cent in 2019, as they spent more money to prevent attacks.

The report found 16 per cent of small businesses, 25 per cent of medium-sized businesses and 37 per cent of large businesses reported being affected by cybersecurity incidents in 2021.

Statistics Canada said Tuesday businesses most commonly faced attempts to steal money or demand ransom payments and efforts to steal personal or financial data.

Sixty-one per cent of affected businesses identified external parties as the perpetrator of cybersecurity incidents, while 38 per cent could not identify the perpetrator.