Nearly one-quarter of all external breaches registered last year originated in
“We do have a great deal of evidence that malicious activity from
In one of the more spectacular examples, one network thought to be based in
Hacking, Malware Biggest Entry Points
The trend that Verizon noted was increasingly sophisticated attacks aimed at stealing PIN numbers with which cybercriminals can drain victims’ bank accounts. Though Verizon considered only 17 percent of the breaches to be “highly sophisticated,” these types of attacks were responsible for 95 percent of all records breached. And financial services records made up 93 percent of all records breached. Hacking and malware were the biggest points of entry.
Verizon said that most breaches happen because businesses don’t have basic controls in place, or because those controls may not be used consistently throughout the business. The group recommended protecting systems with firewalls and changing passwords after systems are installed. They also recommended that organizations review accounts for signs of abuse, because many organizations have difficulties in catching the breaches quickly enough.
“Two hundred eight-five million records breached in a single year is a rather loud wake up call to an industry dedicated to protecting information. We can’t afford to hit snooze and sleep in,” the report said. “Our task is not getting any easier; the sum total of information in the world grows continually and permeates everything we do and everywhere we go.”
--Beth Kampschror
