The San Jose, Calif.-based ThreatMetrix, The Digital IdentityCompany, confirmed a 100% increase in attack volume over the lasttwo years and 2017 set a record in the cybercrime battle.

Based on its analysis of real world cybercrime attacks – as seenacross its global network, which analyzes 100 million transactionsa day – the ThreatMetrix Cybercrime Report 2017: A Year in Reviewalso disclosed a record number of these attacks thwarted byorganizations investing in innovative, digital-first strategies toprotect consumers facing downstream attacks from large-scale databreaches.

However, fraudsters no longer look to make a quick buck fromstolen credit cards. Instead, they develop more ambitious attacksproducing long-term profits and leverage sets of stolen identitydata. ThreatMetrix said highly elevated attack rates on accountcreations, the most vulnerable activity, saw more than one in nineof all new accounts opened in 2017 as fraudulent.

Cybercriminals use stolen identity data to open newe-commerce/bank accounts, sign up for new loans, take outfraudulent insurance policies and cultivate fake social mediaaccounts. Identity testing bot attacks often precede higher valuenew account creations.

ThreatMetrix Cybercrime Report 2017 data also revealed botactivity levels, represented by 1.5 billion bot attacks, accountfor up to 90% of traffic on some retail sites. Even consumers notdirectly affected suffer, as they experience lengthier identityverification by many businesses attempting to separate legitimateactivity from fraud.

Cyberattack levels hit more extreme spikes in 2017 than everbefore. These spikes, when aggregated across thousands oforganizations, point to major data breaches – often even beforethey have hit the headlines. For example, the ThreatMetrix DigitalIdentity Network detected unprecedented spikes in irregularbehavior immediately after Equifax fell victim to major incidents.