Data breaches are a security violation, in which sensitive, protected or confidential data is copied, transmitted, viewed, stolen or used by an individual unauthorized to do so.
Other terms are unintentional information disclosure.
It is not good to experience company data breach. It can severely tarnish both the company’s reputation and the bottom line.
Hackers often use malware, ransomware, and other methods to enter a company’s data, steal vital information, and profit from it.
This data breach may destroy the company’s brand as well as its earnings. According to study by IBM, the average cost of a data breach climbed 2.6% from USD 4.24 million in 2021 to USD 4.35 million in 2022.
A total of 19% of data breaches were caused by stolen or compromised credentials. Phishing was another major factor responsible for data leaks 16% of the time with cloud misconfiguration being another major contributor for 15% of data breaches.
The term “data breach” has lately been in the news, but what does it actually mean?
What is a Data Breach?
When information is taken from a system without the owner’s knowledge or consent, the situation is referred to as a data breach.
A data breach might happen in both small and big firms. Data leaks are most often of various sensitive, proprietary, or confidential information such as credit card details, customer information, corporate secrets, or national security concerns.
The consequences of a data breach might include damage to the target company’s reputation as a result of a perceived “betrayal of trust.”
Victims and their clients may potentially incur financial damages if associated data leaks are included in the stolen information.
8 Common Types of Data Breaches
Countless assaults have compromised the privacy of millions of people in recent years.
The list is actually endless, ranging from data security attacks that have damaged institutions and their students to data breaches that have exposed information at hospitals.
Here are 8 types of data breaches:
1. Theft of Information
While this may appear absurd, people are highly capable of (and frequently do) making mistakes.
Data leak errors might cost their organization hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions.
It is quite typical for an employee to leave a computer, phone, or file somewhere they shouldn’t have and have a data leak.
It could also put medical or client information in danger in addition to the new prototypes company trying to keep a secret.
2. Malware attacks
Cyber attackers utilize malware attacks to harm or exploit any programmable device, service, or network.
Malicious software corrupts a vast amount of data leaks on infected devices.
Data security attacks against hospitals, banking, internet apps, and other institutions are routinely reported in the news.
To obtain access to valuable information, malicious computer programs cause chaos.
3. Password theft
Password theft is another extremely easy yet extremely devastating data security issue. This happens more frequently than one may expect.
Some businesses post computer passwords on notes, allowing anybody to see them, which might lead to interfering employees accessing the data elsewhere.
Many people face data breaches because their passwords was too simple or easy to guess.
This form of a data breach is known as a brute-force assault, and it is a highly frequent tactic used by hackers.
People frequently choose passwords such as the name of their street, the name of their pet, or their birthday, which makes data breaches into their accounts very easy.
4. Phishing attacks
Phishing data security attacks are carried out by third-party hackers who construct websites that appear to be completely authentic.
For example, they may create a site that mimics the payment gateway and request users to log in to make a necessary modification to avoid data leaks.
People log in and realize that instead of just signing in, they’ve mistakenly given someone their password.
A phishing technique might jeopardize the data security of any sensitive information that people or their organizations may have.
5. Eavesdrop attacks
Eavesdrop attacks exploit unprotected network communications to gain access to data delivered and received by a user. A sniffer assault is what it is.
The stolen data leak is transported via a network through a computer, smartphone, or another network-connected device.
To intercept data while it is transferred, the attacker monitors a weak connection between the client and the server.
6. Attack on Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
This code injection data breach targets users. A hacker executes harmful code on the web browser of a victim.
When a victim sees a web page or web application that contains malicious code, the attack takes place.
The major targets of this assault are web applications that enable comments, such as forums, message boards, and web pages.
JavaScript is the most often used programming language for XSS.
7. Man-in-the-Middle Attack (MitM)
It occurs when a hacker intercepts communication between two parties. Either to discreetly eavesdrop or to alter traffic between the two.
MitM data breaches are used by hackers to steal login credentials or personal information, spy on the target, disrupt communication, or damaged data.
8. Denial-of-Service (DDoS)
This type of data breach is normally reserved for larger corporations and is frequently used in protest.
For example, if vigilante justice trolls, such as Anonymous, decide they do not like the way a pharmaceutical firm is operated and believe it is exploiting patients, they might conduct a denial-of-service data security assault.
DDoS attacks will make it hard for people at work to sign into the system using this form of data security assault.
While the data is not necessarily destroyed, the organization is forced to shut operations while they address the data security incident.
There are no perfect means of protecting the company from any of the aforementioned sorts of data breaches.
Employers may educate themselves and their employees on the consequences of data breaches and the potential for hackers to get access to the system.
Businesses may also seek assistance from companies like Exabytes to install data security solutions such as Acronis Cyber Protect in their systems to avoid data breaches.
Connect with our team to know how best you can use Acronis Cyber Protect from Exabytes.
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