Whenever there’s a data breach, it’s easy to get caught up in the root cause analysis – a misconfigured device, an unpatched application, an employee falling for a phishing attack, you name it. But really, the root causes of most breaches are not these moment-in-time errors. Instead, they are almost always shortsighted decisions made well before the breach ever occurs.
In today’s complex digital world, cybersecurity threats are high and rising. The Identity Resource Center’s 2017 Annual Data Breach Year-End Review reports publicly-disclosed data breaches were up 45 percent from 2016. And the 2018 Thales Global Data Threat Report notes that 71 percent of U.S. enterprises have suffered at least one data breach “over the past several years,” with 46 percent reporting a breach “in the past year,” up from 24 percent in the prior survey. As cyber threat volume and sophistication increase, financial institutions of all sizes are challenged to maintain and prove cyber safety and soundness.
The GDPR restricts how organizations can collect, use and retain personal data, and provides Europeans with certain rights to halt collection, and to obtain copies, correction and, at times, destruction of their data.
A Ponemon Institute study of more than 700 IT and security practitioners around the world found that the risk posed by insider threats is growing year-over-year, costing organizations significant money and resources as the threats continue to be difficult to detect, identify and manage.
The worldwide cybersecurity skills gap continues to present a significant challenge, with 59 percent of information security professionals reporting unfilled cyber/information security positions within their organization, according to ISACA’s cybersecurity workforce research.
With ransomware and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on the rise, the average number of focused cyberattacks per organization has more than doubled this year compared to the previous 12 months.
The size, scope and importance of America’s utility sector make it a tempting target for terrorists looking to wreak havoc or for financial criminals looking to infiltrate and pilfer.