A recent Kaspersky report suggested that as many as 726 million reported cyber-attacks had occurred since the start of the year, putting 2020 on track to rack up somewhere in the region of 1.5 billion cyber-attacks per year.
Why are the data breaches on the rise?
Data is rapidly becoming one of the most valuable assets in the modern world. It is the new currency for the future. If you are in oil & gas then consider data as the new oil, if you are in the manufacturing industry then consider data as the new raw material…so on and so forth. Simply put, data is driving everything in this digital era and thus, cybercriminals are trying to cash in on the same. Further, they are exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to launch extremely advanced cyber-attacks on any potential industry.
10 data breaches reported globally in 2020 and their impact:
- EasyJet
When? Feb 2020
Impact: 9 million customer details
- MGM Grand
When? Feb 2020
Impact: 10.6 million customers
- Marriott
When? March 2020
Impact: 5.2 million hotel guests who used the loyalty application
- Sina Weibo
When? March 2020
Impact: 538 million accounts
- Zoom
When? April 2020
Impact: 500, 000 Zoom Accounts
- Magellan Health
When? April 2020
Impact: 365,000 patients
- Nintendo
When? April 2020
Impact: 160,000 accounts
- LiveJournal
When? May 2020
Impact: 26 million login credentials
When? July 2020
Impact: 130 Twitter Accounts
- Microsoft (Customer support database)
When? October 2020
Impact: 280 million Microsoft customer records
5 data breaches reported by Indian start-ups in 2020 and their impact:
- Unacademy
When? Feb 2020
Impact: 20 million user accounts
- Dunzo
When? July 2020
Impact: 3.4 million users
- Edureka
When? September 2020
Impact: 2 million users
- BigBasket
When? October 2020
Impact: 20 Million User Accounts
- WhiteHat Jr
When? November 2020
Impact: 2.80 lakh students
How to Safeguard Yourself in 2021?
The sudden shift to remote working culture (courtesy- COVID-19) has enabled cybercriminals to launch highly sophisticated cyberattacks. Ransomware, phishing, DDoS, BEC attacks, etc. are amongst the most common types of data breaches that we have witnessed this year (till now).
Here are some of the useful tips for your organization to stay secured:
- Establish a comprehensive BYOD and mobile device security policies.
- Keep all devices updated with latest versions and implement a strong and unique password policy across devices.
- Periodic security audits to ensure that the systems are up-to-date with latest security patches.
- Train employees to act ‘smart’, not fast. Adequate training needs to be given on how they should take time to inspect an email in order to identify and avoid opening unsafe links and attachments, especially from unknown sender.
- Multi-factor authentication can be put in place in the form of mobile code while logging in to webmail, especially if your employees are dealing with sensitive information.
- Implement ‘Transport Layer Security (TLS)’ protocol to encrypt the contents of emails (especially if it contains sensitive business information) and ensure they can’t be read by anyone other than the intended recipient.
- Consumer awareness is a must as Cybersecurity must be practiced at all levels and it is crucial that customers be made aware of any unscrupulous activity.
- Comprehensive cybersecurity policy is the need of the hour. The policy must explain the rules for how employees, consultants, partners, board members, and other stake holders.
- Virus and spam protection should be in place in the form of anti-virus to combat/stop any malware or ransomware delivered via email from infecting your endpoint devices.
- Opt for cyber insurance, but do not consider it to be a substitute for cybersecurity.
Is your business at risk of a security breach?
Yes! All organizations, irrespective of their size, are vulnerable to data breaches. If you think you are too small for a data breach, then it makes you one of the easy targets for cybercriminals.
At Clover Infotech, we can protect your business from data breaches and help you continuously monitor the security posture.
Get in touch with us today or write to us at marketing@cloverinfotech.com
