In the first quarter of 2022, the number of publicly reported data breaches increased by 14%. Hackers continued to target both organisations and users, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC).
According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, in the first three months of 2022, cyberattacks were responsible for the majority of breaches, with nearly 30% being phishing attacks and nearly 20% ransomware attacks.
The majority of breaches reported by the ITRC (92%) were due to cyber-attacks with phishing and ransomware. However, there is still a disclosure gap, since roughly 40% did not specify the root cause.
It is a 40% increase in the overall number of unknown breach causes compared to the entire year 2021, with the ITRC warning that such a lack of transparency poses a risk to customers and firms.
Eva Velasquez, President and CEO of the ITRC, stated:
“The fact that the number of data breaches increased by double digits over the last year might suggest that compromises will continue to rise this year after reaching record highs in 2021.”
During the time, technique and human error accounted for 8% of data breaches. Although document or device theft, accounted for just 3% of data breaches over the time. The industries that saw the highest breaches in Q1 2022 were healthcare, financial products and services, manufacturing and utilities, and specialised expert services.
Eva Velasquez also said:
“Last year, we saw an alarming number of data breaches because of complicated cyber-attacks, which are causing the dramatic rise in identity fraud. It’s vital that everyone maintains proper cyber-hygiene in order to help reduce the amount of personal information getting into the wrong hands of cyber-criminals.”
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