Every other industry might be experiencing a bit of a slowdown in the wake of the global pandemic, but not cybercrime. Dark Web markets are booming, and certain kinds of data are fetching high prices. Business has never been better for data thieves, and they’re on track to meet their goals for a banner year and set a new Data Breach Record 2020.
Information is pouring into Dark Web markets to fuel further cyberattacks. So far this year, 16 billion records have been exposed. About 8.4 billion were exposed in the first quarter of 2020 alone, a 273% increase from the first half of 2019 which saw only 4.1 billion exposed. While breach reporting was down significantly in Q1 2020, that can be chalked up to the pandemic disrupting reporting, not a decrease in cybercrime.
Security Awareness Training is Data Breach Prevention
How are the bad guys getting this data? In a recent report, researchers noted that 70% of reported breaches were due to unauthorized access to systems or services. Unauthorized access can typically be traced to an insider threat like phishing or password compromise. By upgrading (and updating) security awareness training, companies can reduce the chance of insider threats like these giving cybercriminals the in that they’re looking for to deploy ransomware or steal data.
It’s not just malicious insiders that you have to consider when planning a data loss prevention strategy. Well-intentioned but careless employees can easily cause as much if not more damage as a malicious insider – Human error is the number one cause of data loss. Certain solutions can and will mitigate the risk of a staffer’s error resulting in a data breach.
Arm Your Employees to Fight Today’s Biggest Threat
Contact Optistar today at ask@optistartech.com to discuss the options available that will protect your organization. By taking action now and implementing solutions that can handle today’s challenges (including improved security awareness training), companies can reduce their chances of becoming part of the calculus for the new Data Breach Record 2020 – because that’s an achievement that no one wants to be a part of!