Over a billion data records were compromised
globally in 2016, according to Gemalto’s latest Breach Level Index.
The report revealed that close to 1.4 billion
records were involved in some sort of data breach, representing an incredible
86% increase compared to 2015.
Identity theft, the authors of the report
explained, was the most common type of security incident last year,
representing 59% of all data breaches.
As for the main cause of data breaches, “malicious
actors” were found to be the most responsible for compromises (68%).
This was followed by accidental losses (19%),
malicious insiders (9%), hacktivists (3%) and state-sponsored attackers (1%).
Ransomware was highlighted as a particularly worrying trend
that has grown and grown over the past 12 months.
This particular threat was described by Gemalto as
moving into the “mainstream”.
“Fraudsters have been using
encryption to make breached data unreadable, then hold it for ransom and
decrypting once they are paid.”
“The Breach Level Index highlights four major
cybercriminal trends over the past year,” explained Jason Hart, vice president
and chief technology officer for data protection at Gemalto.
“[Attackers] are casting a wider net and are using
easily-attainable account and identity information as a starting point for
high-value targets.
“Clearly, fraudsters are also shifting from attacks
targeted at financial organizations to infiltrating large databases such as
entertainment and social media sites.
“Lastly, fraudsters have been using encryption to
make breached data unreadable, then hold it for ransom and decrypting once they
are paid.”
Last year, a study by Gemalto revealed that many IT professionals are
unconfident about their abilities to keep their employer’s data safe and
secure.
While 61% of IT decision makers said that they were
confident that their perimeter security systems were strong enough to thwart
attacks, 69% were of the opinion that should this section of security be
breached, they were unsure as to whether their organization’s data would remain
safe.