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Data Breaches Rose Sharply In 2008

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the my-password-is-p4ssw0rd dept.

snydeq writes "According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, more than 35 million data records were breached in the US in 2008. Tracking media reports and disclosures companies are required to make by law, the ITRC noted a 47 percent increase in breaches last year at a range of well-known US companies and government entities. The majority of the lost data was neither encrypted nor protected by a password. A third of the breaches occurred at business entities. One in six breaches were attributed to insider theft, a figure that more than doubled between 2007 and 2008, ITRC said."

5 of 43 comments (clear)

  1. And expected to rise by truthsearch · · Score: 4, Insightful

    With increased layoffs and economic hardships I would expect these numbers to go up again this year. On top of the individual motivations for just attempting it, it's unlikely corporations or governments are going to drastically increase security spending this year.

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    1. Re:And expected to rise by Thaelon · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Rarely should security have to do with spending. Sure, you'll plunk down a chunk of change for a fast firewall to sit between you and the intarwebs, but it's all pretty moot if your employees don't know any better and get password phished, or use Outlook Express and pounce on every cool sound attachment with wanton double clickery.

      In the IT world it's about being smart and educating your users more than anything else. And that just takes one competent IT guy and some face time with the rest of your people.

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    2. Re:And expected to rise by truthsearch · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Corporate training costs far more than one IT guy and a little face time. There's materials, conference rooms, continued support, etc. One IT guy would get very tired talking to tens of thousands of people, so a few would be required. Then every employee must commit at least a few hours, which drops productivity. And I'm sure the IT guys would want to implement some related systems, like testing for weak passwords.

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  2. Wait, what? by girlintraining · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Pardon me for saying, but insider theft in every business aspect has dominated the charts -- over 80% in most cases. Most case studies I've seen in computer security point to this as the overriding concern in setting up corporate networks and systems. And now comes along a report saying that this has been turned on its head and the reverse is true?

    I smell a rat, and looking at the name on the report, I think I might have found the cheese too.

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  3. Silly Stats by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Or, there has been an increase in the reporting of data breaches, since data breaches started to become newsworthy. Previously, we did not care.