The number of ransomware attacks quadrupled in 2016 and are expected to double again in 2017, according to findings in a report from large insurer Beazley. They suggested that organisations appear to be particularly vulnerable to attacks during IT system freezes, at the end of financial quarters and during busy shopping periods.
As a provider of data breach response insurance, Beazley managed 1,943 data breaches on behalf of clients in 2016 compared to 1,247 breaches in 2015.
Related to this, the number of reported U.S. data breaches hit an all-time high in 2016, increasing by 40 percent from what was a record-setting high in 2015, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center.
In addition, more than half of data breaches resulted in the exposure of Social Security numbers, thus putting people at increased risk of identity theft, the not-for-profit organization says in its 2016 breach report, sponsored by CyberScout.
Overall, 72 percent of breached records were exposed due to hacking, skimming or spear-phishing attacks, according to the report. The greatest number of organizations that reported they'd been breached were in the business sector, representing 45 percent of all breached organizations; followed by healthcare and the medical industry at 35 percent; education at 9 percent and the financial services sector at 5 percent.
Did you know? On average 45% of your users will plug in USBs
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About KnowBe4
KnowBe4 is the world's most popular integrated platform for security awareness training combined with simulated phishing attacks. We help thousands of organizations to manage the continuing problem of social engineering. Our mission: Train your employees to make smarter security decisions.
