Verizon is playing a vital role in creating the awareness among the users by publishing data breach report at regular intervals. It is followed by all the tech-related people and ordinary users, that are looking to protect their information, are highly recommended to read it. It scrutinizes a huge number of reported data breach incidents all around the globe related to different industries. Verizon kept going their practice this year as well and their recent report is based on nearly 80,000 incidents and 2,000 record breaches from 61 different countries. Dozens of different service providers and experts put up their efforts to get the report done. This year’s report is interesting and informative as well, lets have a look at its findings.
Affected industries
The top three affected industries have remained the same. The public sector, the information industry and the finance sector are the ones that have suffered the most. As per the numbers, the public sector is hit by almost 50,000 security breach incidents, but, there are 300 confirmed incidents. Which is overall a huge number. The information industry has 100 confirmed incidents of data breach, however, the estimated number is around 1,500 records breach. The finance sector has also been fairly affected by 300 confirmed compromises and 650 security incidents. These industries got highlighted, but, one thing is for sure that no industry is completely immune from this threat.
Common trends
Gone are the days where hackers used to attack databases just to show off their intelligence and just for fun. Now, hackers do it purposefully to earn and harm users or firms. As per the Verizon’s latest report on data breach, almost 70 percent of attacks are done just for the sake of attacking other people. For instance, if online criminals attack a business’ database, they are doing it for the purpose of stealing personal information of their customers, so that they can attack them as well. However, companies have become a bit more efficient to detect that they have become a victim of hacking. It is somewhat a positive sign, they can control damage to some extent if they work swiftly.
Popular ways of data leakage
Hackers are using tried and tested techniques to make users their target. The situation is alarming, many industries claimed that they had never seen such a high number of malware and they believe there are new and even more damaging malicious programs are circulating around. Apart from these malware programs, there is another huge threat of phishing. The fact stunned me that nearly 23 percent of the users open phishing emails and as high as 11 percent users click on the infectious link or download the attached file. It is one of the oldest techniques that hackers have been using for ages and still it is quite effective. Other than that, there are system vulnerabilities. Technology has progressed a lot, but, still it is nowhere near to be perfect.
One thing that Verizon’s report has clearly conveyed that data breach threat is constantly on the rise and it means the situation is expected to get worse only. You need to take these threats seriously and work to ensure the protection of your privacy. Using software that can act as folder locker and using other different techniques to safeguard your personal information can help your cause.
Latest Statistics On Data Breaches
According to the 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report from Verizon, there were a total of 3,813 confirmed data breaches in 2019. Of those, 81% were caused by malicious or criminal attacks, while 11% were caused by system glitches. The most common attack vector was hacking (62%), followed by malware (22%) and phishing (9%). The most common types of data compromised were financial records (37%), followed by personal identifiable information (36%) and credentials (21%).
Data Breaches Occurred In 2022
It is not possible to provide an exact number of data breaches that have occurred in 2022 since the data is not yet available. However, based on the trends of the past few years, it is likely that the number of data breaches in 2022 will be higher than in 2019.
Recent Data Breaches
Yes, there have been several recent data breaches. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, there have been over 1,000 data breaches reported in 2021, with the most common types of data compromised being financial records, personal identifiable information, and credentials.
Top Data Breaches
The top three data breaches in 2021 were:
1. SolarWinds: A massive cyberattack targeted SolarWinds, a Texas-based IT company, and compromised the data of over 18,000 customers.
2. Capital One: A hacker was able to access the data of over 100 million Capital One customers, including Social Security numbers and bank account numbers.
3. Marriott: A massive data breach at Marriott exposed the personal data of over 500 million customers.
Major Cyber Attacks In 2022
It is not possible to predict the exact number of major cyber attacks that will occur in 2022 as the cybersecurity landscape is constantly changing and evolving. However, there are certain trends that are likely to continue in the coming year, such as the increasing sophistication of cybercriminals and the continued rise of ransomware attacks.
Top 5 Security Breaches
1. Marriott International: In 2018, Marriott International was the victim of a massive data breach exposing the personal information of over 500 million customers.
2. Equifax: In 2017, Equifax suffered a major data breach that exposed the personal information of over 145 million customers.
3. Yahoo: In 2013, Yahoo was the victim of a massive data breach that exposed the personal information of over 3 billion users.
4. Target: In 2013, Target suffered a major data breach that exposed the personal information of over 70 million customers.
5. Adobe: In 2013, Adobe was the victim of a major data breach that exposed the personal information of over 38 million customers.
Cyber Incident 2022
Fortunately, there is no known major cyber incident that occurred in 2022. However, cyber incidents are becoming increasingly common, so it is important to stay vigilant and protect yourself against cyber threats.