We live in a digital world where computers store our most sensitive information.
This interconnected technological world makes life easier for us. But it also puts us right in the crosshairs of hackers.
The question isn’t really if you’ll be a victim of a data breach. But when.
That’s because data breaches happen daily, in too many places at once to keep count. Hop on Facebook, Twitter, or wherever you get your news, and you can't go a day without finding something about a hack or breach.
We don’t need to go that far back to find one of the biggest cyber-attacks to ever happen.
On July 29, 2017, Equifax, one of the largest credit bureaus in the US, discovered a vulnerability on one of their websites that led to a massive data breach.
The personal information (including Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some cases, drivers' license numbers) of 143 million consumers was accessed by hackers. 209,000 consumers also had their credit card data exposed.
The actual breach likely took place in May, two months before anyone knew they were victimized.
Back in 2014, 3 billion Yahoo users were victims of the biggest data breach in history (likely by a state-sponsored actor). Yet they didn’t know about it until two years later.
These are just two of the many examples of data breaches that left billions in their wake.
OTHER RECENT DATA BREACH ATTACKS
JP Morgan Chase
Date: July 2014
Impact: 76 million households and 7 million small businesses
Target Data Breach
Date: December 2013
Impact: Credit/debit card information and/or contact information of up to 110 million people compromised.
Ebay Data Breach
Date: May 2014
Impact: 145 million users compromised
And while it’s easy to assume that large-name corporations and big businesses are the biggest targets for hackers, nothing could be further from the truth.
Hackers know that small businesses are far more vulnerable than larger corporations. Which is why they’ve become the primary target.
The result? Numbers that should frighten anyone who has sensitive data stored online. In other words - everyone.
Human attack surface to reach 6 billion people by 2022. In 2017, there were 3.8 billion internet users - more than half of the entire world’s population. By 2022, there’ll be 6 billion active internet users. This incredible growth in digital users means hackers smell blood – and are looking for any opportunity to pounce. Link ->
Your data may have already been breached. The average time it takes to detect a malicious or criminal attack is 170 days. That’s more than 6 months before you know you’re vulnerable. Or, in the case of Yahoo, years. Link ->
There are no safe days any more. More than 4,000 ransomware attacks have occurred every day since the beginning of 2016. Link ->
If you own a computer, you’re a target. An incredible 99% of computers are vulnerable to exploit kits. Link ->
No business is immune, meaning no human is immune. 43 percent of cyberattacks target small business. Link ->
As scary as those numbers are, they pale into comparison to this:
- Only 38% of global organizations claim they’re prepared to handle a sophisticated cyberattack.
- Of those companies whose data has been breached, more than half aren’t making any changes to their security.
We repeat: it’s not a matter of if you’ll become the victim of a data breach. It’s a matter of when.
Over the next five years, cybercrime might become the greatest threat to every person, place and thing in the world.
When it comes to a data breach, every second counts. How you respond in the first day, week, and month following a breach could save you thousands of dollars, months of headaches, as well as your identity.
Do you know what to do when your data’s been breached? Our free guide walks you through the steps so that you don’t become another statistic.
Comments 1
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