About three-quarters of cyber attacks in 2018 were financially motivated, according to Verizon. That means if hackers can make money stealing payment card data, personally identifiable information, or intellectual property, they will try to do it. The good news here, Verizon suggests, is that taking proper precautions serves as a deterrent. “Most attacks are opportunistic and target not the wealthy or famous, but the unprepared,” according to the report.

Most, but not all, hacks in 2018 came from outside an organization. Outsiders were responsible for 73% of cyber attacks, Verizon says, compared with 28% involving insiders. Half of all breaches were caused by organized criminal groups, while state-associated entities took part in 12%.

In other findings, human error, rather than a malicious attack, was responsible for 17% of breaches. When data breaches did involve malicious software, ransomware was the most common, found in 39% of malware cases. This means companies need to backup their servers so hackers can’t threaten to bring their businesses offline.

One of the major lessons of 2018 is the damage a data breach can have on a company’s reputation. A good example of this is the two major data breaches reported by Facebook.

Reputations can’t be recovered as easily as data, Paul Mason told TechRadar. Mason is an IT Security, Education and Training Specialist at cybersecurity firm Secarma. “This is a serious reminder for business owners to keep their networks up-to-date, patched and regularly tested to stay one step ahead of those willing to take advantage,” Mason says.

The type of threat has also evolved. In the past, a data breach might have simply exposed usernames, passwords, and perhaps contact information. Last year’s cyber attacks, however, were more serious, The Next Web notes. More and more personal data has become at risk, including financial information, location tracking and even DNA.

Perhaps the biggest cyber-security takeaway from 2018 is simply this: Breaches will happen, and they will be big. Data breaches and cyber attacks affected billions of people last year, including 765 million just from April to June, according to Positive Technologies, a global digital security firm.

While none of the individual breaches last year—at Marriott, Under Armour, and others—was “quite as significant” as the 2017 Equifax breach, which affected an estimated 143 million Americans, "the sheer volume of breaches of major companies was stunning," says Maria Tellado, CEO of Consumer Reports. So reports USA Today,