Verizon’s Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) has been released and topping the pile as the most popular form of malware found in data security breaches is ransomware.

The report analyzed over 53,000 security incidents and more than 2,200 breaches in 2017 from 67 countries. Interestingly, the end result showed that ransomware jumped from fifth position in 2017 to pole position for 2018. Of the cyber attacks the researchers examined, 39% involved malware, specifically ransomware - totalling to more than 700 incidents – more than doubling from the previous year.

Many from the security industry attribute ransomware’s growth to it being a low- cost, effective, and high impact attack method amongst malicious attackers. There are even malware toolkits readily available on the web which can execute malware within minutes.

Another key finding uncovered by the DBIR is that 25% of all attacks in 2017 were carried out by an insider from the company with the intention to seek financial gain or espionage. Insider errors also attributed to 17% of all breaches.

The report also broke down each industry and their biggest threats:

Cyber espionage is considered the main issue for the Public Sector with just under half (43%) of all breaches being linked to attackers uncovering both state secretes and public personal data. For organizations operating in Healthcare, human error and insider threats are the main risks posed. Payment card fraud on ATMs, ATM jackpotting and DDoS are the main threats in the Financial and Insurance sector.

Cybersecurity is expected to increase in the coming years and with the European General Data Protection Regulation less than 50 days away, it’s up to the organizations to ensure the correct data protection defenses are in place, otherwise the rate of cyberattacks will continue to grow. With the cyber threat spectrum constantly expanding, organizations have to be seen to be capitalizing on cybersecurity solutions that protect their data and their user’s data. If not, then it will be more than customer distrust they will suffer.

Source: csoonline.com

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