Malware and Hacking Responsible for Nearly Three-Quarters of All Breaches in 2018
“Financial organizations regularly handle sensitive, regulated data like home addresses, bank statements, and Social Security numbers,” said Rich Campagna, CMO of Bitglass. “This type of information is an incredibly attractive target for criminals, meaning that financial services firms need to be highly vigilant when it comes to cybersecurity. Failing to protect data and reach regulatory compliance can spell disaster for any company.”
To this end, Bitglass, a global cloud access security broker (CASB), sought to investigate the state of security in financial services for 2018. They published the Financial Breach Report 2018.
Bitglass combined data from the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) and the Privacy Rights Clearing House (PRC) to produce a comprehensive report analyzing data theft in financial organizations. These standalone databases detail information about data theft in financial services organizations. By analyzing their records in tandem, Bitglass was able to uncover insights about the financial breaches that occurred in 2018.
Astonishingly it was revealed that over the same time period in 2016, there were three times as many breaches this year, with 103 breaches in 2018 and only 37 recorded just two years prior. Bitglass explains that with a worldwide explosion of hackers and the constant evolution of malware it is imperative that financial services institutions make protecting against these threats, of which accounted for 75% of the detected breaches for 2018, a top priority.
Bitglass’ report uncovered that not only have the number of breaches increased but, the amount of data which was breached grew exponentially. Reporting that the top three breaches of 2018 alone compromised more records than the sum of all breaches reported in 2016. With over 1.7 million records potentially brokered from breaches of three reputable organizations.
New regulations ensuring financial organizations protect their customers, heavy fines for failing to meet those standards, and growing migration of data across app usage presents a challenge for these companies. They simply cannot afford to have an absence or deficiency of the latest, up to date cybersecurity technologies. Their reputation, livelihood, and existence depend on it.
Download the full Bitglass Report
By: Cody Bowcut, Contributing Editor