Security Stats & Facts: What You Need To Know To Stay Safe

It's our belief that education is half the battle when it comes to security. If you're concerned with protecting your home, your identity, or your computer, knowing what to look for is key to protecting yourself and preventing victimization. We've collected the most relevant and reliable statistics and facts around home security, identity theft, and cyber crime to keep you updated.

• Overall, property crimes are on the decline in the U.S. Down approximately 18.6% over the last ten years.
• It's estimated that property crimes resulted in over $14.3 billion in losses in 2014.
• In 2014, it was estimated that property crime happened to 2,596 people out of every 100,000.
• Cities near metropolitan areas saw an increased property crime rate of 3417 per 100,000 compared to cities not in a metropolitan county at 1440 per 100,000.
• It's estimated that 8,277,829 property crimes occurred within the U.S. in 2014.
• It was estimated that 72.3 per 1000 elderly persons experienced property crime.

• Burglary accounted for approximately 22% of property crimes in 2013.
• Larceny and Theft accounted for another 69% of 2013's property crimes.
• It's estimated that on average, 3.7 million burglaries occurred per year between 2003 and 2007 in the U.S.
• In roughly a third of those burglaries, a household member was present.
• 266,560 burglaries resulted in a violent crime against a household member in 2013.
• Simple assault accounted for 15% of the violent crimes that occurred, with Robbery accounting for 7% and Rape accounting for an additional 3%.
• 65% of victims actually knew their attacker, only 28% of offenders were strangers.
• Approximately 39% of violent offenders were armed at the time of burglary.
• In about 12% of all violent burglaries that involve a household member, the offender was armed with a firearm.
• Approximately 9% of injuries sustained by household members during a violent burglary were classified as "serious injuries".
• Residential burglaries are significantly more likely to include violence (1.2%) than non-residential burglaries (.17%).
• It's estimated that only 72.4% of burglaries are reported to police.

• Over 17 million U.S. residents were victims of identity theft in 2014. That's about 7% of residents over the age of 16.
• There were 2.6 million elderly victims of identity theft in 2014, up from 2.1 in 2012.
• Over 85% of identity theft victims experienced a fraudlent use of one of their existing accounts (e.g. credit card or checking account)
• Over 30% of the victims who encountered multiple types of identity theft spent a month or more resolving problems.
• Moderate to severe emotional distress was reported by over 35% of identity theft victims.
• 92% of identity theft victims did not know anything about the identity of the offender.

• There were 269,422 cyber crime complaints received in 2014.
• This ended in a reported loss of $800,492,073, an average of $6,472 per reported loss.

These stats are meant to inform you and guide you on what to look for, so you can better prevent and respond to security threats. When it comes to cyber security, we recommend installing antivirus software to prevent many of the most common risks. For home security, we recommend installing some form of home security system, preferably monitored, and preferably cellular/wireless.

If you're experiencing any instances of security threats or illegal activity, please contact your local police immediately or report cyber crimes to the FBI here.

If there are issues you'd like to see statistics or facts around, please let us know and we'll do our best to source the data from a reputable source and update this post.

Sources

• fbi.gov
• bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/vdhb.pdf
• https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/248651.pdf
• bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cae0313.pdf
• ic3.gov/media/annualreport/2014_IC3Report.pdf
• bjs.gov/content/pub/press/vit14pr.cfm
• bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/vit14.pdf