Hacking continues to be a major problem, leading to the worst year on record for data breaches

2019 could potentially be the worst year on record for data breaches, according to a recent report from Risk Based Security Inc., an analytics and consulting firm out of Richmond, Virginia specializing in data protection.  Hacking continues to be the main source for data breaches, accounting for 82 percent of all reported breaches in the first half of 2019.

Data breaches up 54% during January-June Year Over Year

From January through June 2019, reported breaches were up 54 percent from the previous year during the same months.  Combined, these breaches exposed over 4.1 billion consumer records. 

The majority of the exposed data can be traced back to eight major breaches that are accountable for approximately 75 percent of the total data exposed.  The largest breach originated with Verifications.io, a provider of email verification services. This breach exposed almost 983 million records, including email addresses, names, and other personal data. 

Credit card data exposures on the decline

While data breaches are on the rise, overall, credit cards accounted for only 11 percent of the data exposed January through June 2019.  This is down five percent from the same months in the year prior, and eight percent since 2017. Retailers, including online merchants, and gas stations continue to be the main targets for credit card exposures.

Human error is the largest vulnerability for big businesses when it comes to data breaches

Cyber criminals growing interest in maliciously obtaining stored user information is keeping the industry on its metaphorical toes.  Businesses are having to invest in IT infrastructure to better protect customers’ stored data. Despite best efforts, the largest vulnerability for these businesses continues to be human error as employees can unintentionally fail to properly secure or handle data.

Of the eight percent of breaches that were traced back to company insiders, the majority were considered accidental, with only 12 percent being classified as malicious mishandling.

Big businesses must protect their users with strong cyber-security systems

With the upward trend in attacks and breaches, awareness is not enough to fight back.  Companies must increase their cyber-security efforts. Despite best efforts, data breaches are continuing to occur at an alarming rate.  Criminals are constantly looking for weak points within a company’s security and businesses must be diligent in providing a strong offense.