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What Is a Security or Data Breach?
(See also What is data theft?)
A security or data breach is any security incident in which unauthorized parties gain access to sensitive or confidential information. This can include personal data (Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, healthcare data) or corporate data (customer data records, intellectual property, financial information). Not all cyberattacks are data breaches, and not all data breaches are cyberattacks. Data breaches include only those security breaches in which data confidentiality is compromised.
The consequences of a data breach can be severe and far-reaching. Here are some potential impacts:
- Financial Loss: The global average cost of a data breach is USD 4.35 million. The average cost of a data breach in the United States is more than twice that amount at USD 9.44 million (IBM, 2022).
- Damage to Reputation: Data breaches can lead to an erosion of trust and irreplaceable revenue losses.
- Operational Downtime: Business operations can be disrupted after a data breach.
- Legal Implications: Post-breach expenses can include everything from fines, settlements, and legal fees to reporting costs and providing free credit monitoring for affected customers.
It should be noted that data breaches are often closely related to passwords. Here's how:
- Compromised Passwords: Compromised passwords lead to data breaches by providing unauthorized individuals or threat actors with access to sensitive accounts, systems, and data. These breaches often play out as part of a cyberattack chain.
- Weak or Reused Passwords: More than 80% of confirmed breaches are related to stolen, weak, or reused passwords. In fact, 80% of hacking incidents are caused by stolen and reused login information (Verizon, 2020).
- Password Dumping: One-third of malware breaches are caused by password dumper malware. This type of malware is designed to steal passwords stored in the memory of a computer.
- Guessing Passwords: Hackers have published as many as 555 million stolen passwords on the dark web since 2017 (Cnet, 2020). Also, 27% of hackers have tried to guess other people's passwords, and 17% have managed correct guesses (Google, 2019).
- Poor Password Practices: 81% of company data breaches are caused by poor passwords (TraceSecurity, 2018). Hacking attacks using scripts that try to guess usernames and passwords happen every 39 seconds, globally.
However, not all is lost as there are steps that individuals and companies could take to avoid data breaches. Here are some of them:
- Develop a Strong Security Plan: A solid security strategy should be built on a thorough risk assessment that identifies possible vulnerabilities and defines the security measures needed to mitigate them.
- Educate Employees: Make sure your employees are aware of the risks and know how to identify potential threats.
- Use Encryption: Encrypting your data can add an extra layer of protection.
- Limit Access: Only give access to sensitive data to those who absolutely need it.
- Conduct Regular Security Audits: Regular audits can help identify potential vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.
- Implement Two-Factor Authentication: This adds an extra layer of security by requiring users to provide two forms of identification before accessing sensitive data.
In the face of potential threats, it's imperative to fortify your digital defenses by employing robust, unique passwords for all your accounts and updating them regularly. Multi-factor authentication is a powerful tool that can substantially mitigate the risk of data breaches. Your password, being your primary safeguard against unauthorized data access, needs to be formidable. It's crucial to remember that effective data breach prevention is a collective responsibility that spans across all tiers of an organization, from end-users to IT personnel. The strength of your security measures is only as robust as the weakest link, underscoring the importance of comprehensive planning to thwart data breach attacks or leaks.