Most Common causes of Data Breaches
Anurag Anuj
Pre Sales Solutions Expert || Global MBA ? || Cyber Security Expert || Web, Enterprise & Cloud Security || AWS, Azure, GCP || Cloud Consultant || Solution Architecture || CDN || Pre-Sales SME || Thought Leadership
The occurrence of data breaches in various organizations is a prevalent theme in today's headlines, posing risks to businesses, their customers, and partners. To safeguard your organization from such incidents and avoid unwarranted attention in the news, it is crucial to comprehend the primary causes of data breaches. By understanding these causes, you can take proactive measures to mitigate the associated threats and enhance your overall security posture.
1. Weak and Stolen Credentials:
While hacking attacks are frequently cited as the leading cause of data breaches, it's often the vulnerability of weak or compromised passwords that opportunistic hackers exploit. Statistics indicate that a significant portion, specifically 4 out of 5 breaches categorized were partially attributed to the use of weak or stolen passwords.
Key Takeaways
The ?2023 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) ?states that 83% of breaches were perpetrated by external actors. And of these breaches, 49% involved the use of stolen credentials. In fact, a ?Digital Shadows report ?states that there are more than 15 billion stolen credentials circulating on the internet.
50% of retail cyberattack victims were extorted, and 25% had their credentials harvested.
Solution: To mitigate the risk of hackers executing an Account Takeover on sensitive accounts, deploy robust solutions such as Anti-Credential Abuse and Advanced Bot Protection mechanisms. These measures act as proactive defenses, significantly reducing the likelihood of unauthorized access and enhancing the overall security of your accounts.
Bot Manager is a comprehensive solution provided to address challenges associated with bot traffic on websites and applications. This solution is designed to identify, manage, and mitigate both malicious and non-malicious bot traffic, ensuring a more secure and efficient online experience. Here are key features and functionalities of Bot Manager:
2. Back Doors, Application Vulnerabilities
Exploiting back doors and application vulnerabilities is a favored strategy among hackers. When software applications are poorly written or network systems are inadequately designed, hackers find open doors that grant them direct access to valuable data.
Key Takeaways
Web application attacks contribute to ?26% of breaches , ranking as the second most prevalent attack pattern.
On average, a website experiences ?94 attacks daily ?and is visited by bots approximately 2,608 times a week.
Moreover, ?17% of all cyber attacks ?target vulnerabilities in web applications.
E-commerce websites are particularly vulnerable, with ?75% ?of fraud and data theft involving them
Application-layer attacks have spiked by as much as 80% in 2023
25,059 CVE vulnerabilities were recorded in 2023, 5,000 more than 2022
18% of websites are infected with critical severity threats such as backdoors and malicious file modifications
Solution: Ensure the Web Application Firewall you are using is regularly updated, managed and maintained in an essential manner and it uses an Advanced AI engine? to close potential vulnerabilities and maintain a robust defense against unauthorized access. by keeping the solution fully patched and up to date.?
The Web Application Firewall (WAF) should be? a robust security solution designed to protect web applications from a variety of cyber threats. It serves as a barrier between web applications and the internet, scrutinizing and filtering HTTP traffic to identify and mitigate potential vulnerabilities and attacks.
Key features of the what a WAF should protection includes:
Overall, WAF is a comprehensive security solution that helps organizations secure their web applications, prevent data breaches, and ensure a robust defense against various cyber threats.
3. Malware
The prevalence of both direct and indirect malware is increasing. Malware, inherently malicious software, is loaded onto a system without intent, providing hackers with access to exploit not only the affected system but potentially also connected systems.
Key Takeaways
According to Parachute, threat actors deployed an average of ?11.5 attacks per minute , including 1.7 novel malware samples per minute in 2023.?
92% of malware was delivered via email or uploading files onto corporate external systems.
In the first half of 2023, ?2.8 billion malware attacks ?occurred, and that’s not even counting the ?5,520,908 mobile malware, adware , and riskware attacks
Solution: Implementing an advanced malware protection solution and engine can significantly enhance vigilance in online activities, effectively reducing the risk of falling victim to malicious software. By leveraging cutting-edge technology in malware detection and prevention, organizations can fortify their defenses against evolving cyber threats.
4. Social Engineering
For hackers, the effort of creating their own access point to exploit can be bypassed by persuading individuals with legitimate access to the desired data to create it for them.
Key Takeaways
?98% of cyberattacks involve tricks or manipulation, covered under social engineering.
According to Verizon’s 2023 Report, ?10% of security incidents ?and 17% of data breaches were caused by social engineering.
The average organization is targeted by more than ?700 social engineering attacks ?annually.
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Solution: Exercise vigilance in sharing sensitive information with external parties. Awareness of the information being shared and verification of legitimacy can serve as a simple yet effective defense against social engineering tactics.
5. Too Many Permissions
Excessive and complex access permissions present an enticing opportunity for hackers. Businesses that do not maintain strict control over access within their organization may either have granted inappropriate permissions to individuals or left outdated permissions accessible for potential exploitation by malicious actors.
Key Takeaways
98% of the employees want some part of their work to be remotely based
16% of the companies are operating fully remote without a physical office
12.7% of the full-time employees are working from home, while 28.2% working a hybrid model.
Gartner predicts that by 2026, 10% of large enterprises will have the Zero Trust model. They’ll have a mature and measurable Zero Trust model by then. Today, less than 1% of the businesses have a mature Zero Trust model.
Phishing was the most common form of cybercrime, with approximately ?3.4 billion ?malicious emails sent every day.
BEC-based phishing attacks increased from 1.6 attacks per 1,000 mailboxes in the latter half of 2022 to ?2.5 attacks ?over the first half of 2023.
In 2023, IBM reported that phishing cost $4.9 million per attack.
Solution: Implementing an advanced Zero Trust access solution is crucial, as it provides restricted access, preventing the exposure of excessive data to corporate users. Additionally, it is essential to monitor and protect their identity and activity on the external internet by using enterprise DNS security. This approach enhances security by ensuring that users only access the information necessary for their roles while actively safeguarding their identity and actions online.. Regularly review and update access controls to minimize the risk of unauthorized access and enhance overall security.
6.Ransomware
Ensuring the safety and protection of your infrastructure against external threats is paramount. It's essential to be confident that attackers have not gained access to your systems, potentially utilizing them for malicious activities.
Key Takeaways
Ransomware will possibly continue to dominate cybercrime in 2024. In fact, according to Statista, it was the leading motive for more than ?72% ?of cybersecurity in 2023.?
Quoting ?IBM , “The share of breaches caused by ransomware grew 41% in the last year and took 49 days longer than average to identify and contain.”
The average ransom in 2023 was ?$1.54 million , which is almost double the 2022 figure of $812,380
As of 2023, over ?72% ?of businesses worldwide were affected by ransomware attacks.
Solution: Implement a robust visibility and protection solution, such as micro segmentation. Micro segmentation offers a straightforward, fast, and intuitive approach to enforce Zero Trust principles within your network. This solution is designed to prevent lateral movement by visualizing activity in your IT environments, implementing precise micro segmentation policies, and swiftly detecting potential breaches.
7.Improper Configuration and Exposure via APIs
Inadequate configuration settings and vulnerabilities in API exposure can pose significant security risks. It is crucial to address and rectify these issues to prevent unauthorized access and potential data breaches. Implementing proper configuration practices and regularly auditing API security measures are essential steps to enhance overall protection.
Key Takeaways
The number of unique API attacks has increased by ?60% ?year over year from 2022 to 2023.
APIs account for 91% of all ?web traffic , making them a prime target for attackers. Malicious API traffic increased by 681% in 2022, and there has been a 286% increase in API threats quarter over quarter.
According to a report by VentureBeat,?41% of organizations?had an API security incident in the last 12 months, with 63% of those involved in a data breach or loss.
Solution: To address improper configuration and exposure via APIs, deploy an advanced API security solution. This solution offers comprehensive visibility, identifies vulnerabilities, and detects potential threats and abuses related to APIs. Moreover, it assists in protecting against these threats, enabling a proactive approach to security. By adopting such a solution, organizations can progress towards a Zero Trust API maturity model, reinforcing their overall API security posture.
8.DNS Attacks
DNS (Domain Name System) attacks are malicious activities that target the DNS infrastructure to disrupt or manipulate the resolution of domain names into IP addresses. These attacks can have various objectives, including causing service disruptions using DDoS, redirecting users to malicious websites, or gaining unauthorized access to sensitive information. Here are some common types of DNS attacks:
Key Takeaways
According to the new 2023 IDC Threat Report, 90% of organizations each suffer 7.5 DNS attacks per year, at a damage cost of $1.1M per attack.
Almost every company is targeted, suffering on average 7.5 DNS attacks per year.
These DNS attacks impacts, with 73% suffering app downtime
Solution: To deploy a strong cloud based authoritative DNS service which guarantees 100% availability and protection at the same time against such attacks. To mitigate DNS attacks the solution should implement best practices and deploying security countermeasures. Some measures include:
Head of Solutions Engineering for India, Akamai Technologies | Student of ISB-CTO programme
1 年Great read Anurag Anuj! As the security landscape evolves having robust observability, quick detection and mitigation will be crucial for businesses.
Individual Contributor- by Heart Business Builder- by Job Business Strategist- by Passion
1 年Good read!!
Trusted Advisor I Securing Customers' Digital Journey with Edge
1 年Well well articulated.