Why does Accenture make training on client security data security and internal security mandatory employees are currently preventing security breaches?
Data is rapidly becoming one of the most valuable assets in the modern world. The digital giants that monopolize data are arguably the most powerful companies in the world, prompting ongoing conversations about anti-trust legislation and digital privacy. Show
Despite the overwhelming value controlled by these entities, as we'll see, even companies such as Facebook are vulnerable to the byproduct of the rapid move to digitization – the data breach epidemic. More and more companies are experiencing devastating security breaches. Data breach statistics show us that cybercriminals are sophisticated and highly motivated by the rewards that come from financial and personal data. It's also apparent that most companies are not prepared in the event of a data breach, despite them becoming more common. We've compiled 116 data breach statistics for 2020 that covers types of data breaches, industry trends, risks, costs, as well as how to prevent them. We hope this will help you understand the importance of data security and why so many companies are allocating more of their budgets to preventing data breaches. What is a Data Breach?The U.S. Department of Justice defines a breach as “the loss of control, compromise, unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized acquisition, access for an unauthorized purpose, or other unauthorized access, to data, whether physical or electronic.” Data breaches, according to a recent study by IBM and the Ponemon Institute, have an average cost of nearly $4 million globally. Data breaches commonly involve financial information like credit card or bank account details, protected health information (PHI), personally identifiable information (PII), trade secrets, or intellectual property. Other terms for data breaches include unintentional information disclosure, data leak, cloud leak, information leakage, or a data spill. While the first you may think of when you hear data breach is a situation involving cybercriminals and sophisticated cyber attacks, careless disposal of computer equipment, human error, or a poorly configured S3 bucket are also common causes. Read our full post on data breaches to learn more. The Origin of Data BreachesData breaches have gained notoriety as businesses of all sizes are increasingly reliant on digital data, cloud computing, and a mobile workforce. Not only have the number of records containing sensitive data increased, so has the average organization's attack surface. Sensitive data is stored in local machines, enterprise databases, cloud servers, and third-parties vendors. This is why preventing data breaches through attack surface management and vendor risk management has become a top priority for CISOs and senior management including at the Board level. With that said, data breaches didn't start when organizations began to store their data digitally. In fact, data breaches have existed for as long as individuals and companies have maintained records. According to the Office of Inadequate Security website, in 1984 the global credit information corporation known as TRW (now called Experian) was hacked and 90 million records were stolen. Before computing became common, a data breach could be something as simple as viewing an individual's medical details without authorization or finding sensitive documents on a desk instead of in a drawer. However, the introduction of general data protection laws and data breach notification laws now means that regulatory and reputational costs are significantly higher than in the past. Laws and regulations like HIPAA, PCI-DSS, GDPR, CCPA, FIPA, the SHIELD Act, and LGPD have created guidelines for organizations handling certain types of sensitive information. While these regulations provide a framework for required safeguards, storage, use, and handling of sensitive information, they don't stop all data breaches from occurring. These regulations provide a framework for the required safeguards, storage, and use practices for handling sensitive information, but these rules don’t exist in all industries, nor do they definitively stop data breaches from occurring. Because of this, most information about the number of data breaches and their impact focus on the period between 2005 to the present. Largely due to the advancement of technology and the proliferation of electronic data, which have greatly increased the total number of individuals impacted. Today's data breaches often impact millions - even billions - of individuals. How Do Data Breaches Occur?Data breaches occur when cybercriminals are able to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data. This can be achieved through physical access, or by bypassing security controls remotely. Cybercrime is a profitable industry that continues to grow, largely due to the distributed nature of the Internet and the ability to attack targets outside of their jurisdiction, which makes policing it difficult. While most data breaches are attributed to cyberattacks or malware, common cyber threats include insider leaks, identify theft, payment card fraud, loss or theft of physical assets, misconfiguration, and human error. Ten common ways that data breaches can occur:
Historical Data Breach StatisticsThe most well-known security incidents were recorded from 2005 onwards. This is because the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse recorded known data breaches in 2005. Since then over 9,000 have been recorded, however the actual number of data breaches is likely much higher as they source most of their data from state Attorney Generals and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. These sources only focus on incidents involving U.S. citizens. Below we have provided a list of data breach statistics that led up to and launched the age of the data breach.
Biggest Data Breaches StatisticsData breaches are becoming more common and more damaging and some of the most recent data breaches have been the largest recorded. Here's a look at the largest data breaches in history.
Read our post on the 36 biggest data breaches of all time. Recent Data Breaches and StatisticsWith over 2,000 confirmed data breaches in 2019 and hundreds in 2020, we've outlined some of the most recent and impactful data breaches over the last two years. This data indicates recency as well as impactful data breaches that have compromised sensitive information.
Data Breaches by the NumbersThere are many factors to consider when assessing the cybersecurity risk of data breaches, as well as how to prepare for and manage an ongoing data breach, much of which should be accounted for in an incident response plan. Read below to see how frequently breaches happen, the average response time, and other important information.
Cost of a Data Breach StatisticsAccording to the 2019 Cost of Data Breach Report from Ponemon Institute and IBM Security, the global average cost of a data breach has grown by 12 percent in the last five years to $3.92 million. This was driven by the multi-year financial impact of breaches, increased regulation, and the difficult process of resolving cyber attacks. These costs come in the form of direct and indirect expenses. Direct expenses include digital forensics, attack surface monitoring software, third-party risk management software, hotline support, monitoring subscriptions, and potential settlements. Indirect costs can include in-house data breach investigations, customer churn, and reputational damage. See just how expensive the total cost of a data breach is below.
The cost of a data breach statistics above highlights the value of investing in information security. See the data breach risk statistics below to understand the effects, motivations, and cause of these damaging attacks.
Projections for Data BreachesData security is a rapidly evolving field, it's vital to stay informed about potential data loss issues. Below are some cybersecurity projects that could occur in the coming years.
Data Breach Insurance TypesIn order to reduce the cybersecurity risk that comes along with data loss, many companies are now investing in data breach insurance. Data breach insurance can help cover the costs associated with breaches. If you intend to invest in cybersecurity insurance, consider investing in a security ratings tool first as many cyber insurers use these tools to assess the risk of underwriting and to better price their insurance policies as they help insurers gain visibility into the security posture of those they insure. Read our post on security ratings for more information. There are two common types of data breach insurance:
Below are a few statistics highlighting the growing necessity for cyber insurance.
How to Prevent Data BreachesData breaches occur when information security and data security are compromised, resulting in sensitive information, personal information or other sensitive data being exposed, copied, transmitted, viewed, stolen or used by people with unauthorized access. Cyber attacks, social engineering and phishing, ransomware and other types of malware, physical theft of hard drives, slow vulnerability assessment, and patching cadence, bad information security policies, poor security awareness training, and a lack of general cyber security measures can all result in data loss and data breaches. This is why many organizations are investing in preventative measures to prevent data breaches, like attack surface management and third-party risk management. Learn more about where companies are investing with these statistics.
Data Breaches Statistics FAQsBelow are the most frequently asked questions about data breaches supported by statistics. How Many Data Breaches Have Occurred?The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse keeps a database of security breaches impacting Americans since 2005, which includes 9,016 breaches. The real number is likely magnitudes higher as their data doesn't include unreported breaches or breaches that don't involve U.S. citizens. What Was the Biggest Data Breach?Yahoo disclosed that a breach in August 2013 by a group of hackers had compromised 1 billion accounts. In this instance, security questions and answers were also compromised, increasing the risk of identity theft. The breach was first reported by Yahoo while in negotiations to sell itself to Verizon, on December 14, 2016, and forced all affected users to change passwords, and to reenter any unencrypted security questions and answers to make them encrypted in the future. However, by October of 2017, Yahoo changed the estimate to 3 billion user accounts. An investigation revealed that users' passwords in clear text, payment card data, and bank information were not stolen. Nonetheless, this remains one of the largest data breaches of this type in history. To learn about the other large data breaches, read our post on the biggest data breaches of all time. How Many Data Breaches Were There in 2019?The Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report 2020 analyzed 3,950 confirmed breaches from 2019. (Verizon) What is the Average Cost of a Data Breach?The average cost of a data breach in 2019 was $3.92 million. (IBM) Read our post on the average cost of a data breach for more in-depth analysis. How Much Does a Data Breach Cost Per Record?The average cost per lost record is $150. (IBM) What is the Average Size of a Data Breach?The average size of a data breach is 25,575 records. (IBM) How UpGuard Can Help Prevent Data BreachesFor the assessment of your information security controls, UpGuard BreachSight can monitor your organization for 70+ security controls providing a simple, easy-to-understand cyber security rating and automatically detect leaked credentials and data exposures in S3 buckets, Rsync servers, GitHub repos, and more. Get a preliminary assessment of organization's data breach risk, click here to request your free Cyber Security Rating. Why does Accenture make training on client security data security and internal security?Explanation: Moreover, Accenture's Information Security Client Data Protection program equips client teams with a standardized approach, the security controls, and the tools necessary to keep data safe. With cyber threats, and a constant presence, building a strong security posture is a must and should.
Why are Accenture internal security practices important to client?With the SOC's broad insight into risk compliance and potential threats, the CDP program helps drive improved, enterprise-wide compliance through its established security controls. This approach provides the ability to mitigate such risks, preventing them from impacting our own internal environment or that of a client.
What is Accenture's approach when it comes to helping clients with security?Once actual project work starts, the CDP approach is implemented across all active contracts, helping Accenture client teams work with clients to drive a security governance and operational environment that addresses the unique security risks of each client engagement.
What is one way that Accenture can ensure that the cloud is secure for a client?Accenture can ensure that the cloud is secure for a client by utilizing special software to analyze all data transact6ions ( Option C ). In option A, blocking insecure configurations is not always possible before they are made. In this case, the risk of getting this data encrypted is very high.
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