Numbers from the latest Gemalto Breach Level Index have been released and shows that more data records have been lost/stolen in the first half of this year compared to the whole of last year.

For those that are unaware, the breach level index is a global database that tracks data breaches and measures their severity based on multiple dimensions, including the number of records compromised, the type of data, the source of the breach, how the data was used, and whether or not the data was encrypted. The Level index then assigns a severity score to each breach which distinguishes how serious and impactful they are. The index, which began recording data back in 2013, states that over 9 billion data records have been exposed.

In total, this year 918 data breaches led to 1.9 billion data records being compromised worldwide, which has increased by 164% in comparison to the last six months of 2016. A significant amount of the data lost can be attributed to the 22 largest data breaches recorded during this period, which have involved more than one million compromised records. Of the 918 data breaches, more than 500 (59% of all data breaches) had an unknown or unaccounted for number of compromised data records.

And this should come as no surprise when you think about it. Once records are compromised for one online account and find their way to dark web marketplaces, hackers can use the information to try and compromise other accounts that use the exact same emails and passwords. The problem then multiplies.

The severity of data breaches can no longer be ignored by businesses, particularly with security now expected from consumers – despite their often lax attitudes towards their own personal security when it comes to passwords. The number of data breaches looks more likely to increase, which is why data encryption or tokenization should be advocated for data security. Attackers are leaches, continuously plotting ways to breakdown security systems to suck out the data stored within.

This is the reason encryption is being championed. Whether the data is ‘in motion’, ‘in use’, or ‘at rest’, if the information is unusable to all those without the encryption keys. Investing in a solution that provides security through this method could potentially save your organization millions in both damages and money.