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Note: The total number of network breaches are on the rise, although data loss from cyber attacks has decreased significantly, with customer records continuing to be a primary target for attackers, comprising 89 percent of breached data investigated.
The total number of network breaches are on the rise, although data loss from cyber attacks has decreased significantly, according to two new security studies. Verizon's 2011 Data Breach Investigations Report finds that while the data losses declined in 2010, the total number of breaches was "higher than ever." The second study, the Trustwave Global Security Report, analyzed data breach investigations in 2011, and found that customer records continue to be a primary target for attackers, comprising 89 percent of breached data investigated.
According to Michael Davis, CEO of a Chicago-based security consulting firm, Savid Technologies, and author of the new InformationWeek Reports How to Pick Endpoint Protection, malware was by far the most common reason for security breaches suffered by respondents to the InformationWeek 2011 Strategic Security Survey. He says they routinely see users dismiss a security prompt or choose to execute a program (which turns out to be malicious) because they are irritated at being interrupted or don't understand the consequences of their actions.
The number of compromised records involved in data breaches investigated by Verizon and the U.S. Secret Service decreased from 144 million in 2009 to only 4...