Chicago (IL) – Verizon Business has released a report which claims that organized crime is actually responsible for the majority of increasing corporate electronic records breaches. There were 285 million security breaches last year, which was more than the total number of record breaches that had occurred in the past four years combined.
The study was compiled using data from 90 confirmed corporate network breaches Verizon recorded last year, 93% of which were in the financial venue. Of these breaches, 90% involved groups that were identified by law enforcement as having ties in organized crime.
Verizon claims that cyber crime units typically target financial companies in an attempt to steal PIN Numbers and account information to gain direct access to the accounts of banking customers, or to sell the information on the black market. Verizon maintains that the majority of the attacks could have been prevented and avoided if security measures had been followed correctly.
Verizon urges businesses and companies to change user names and passwords regularly, not allowing employees to share usernames or passwords, and reviewing accounts and computers to make sure they are all properly configured, patching and updating software and systems in a timely manner and utilizing measure which would insure that workers who are terminated don’t have access to the system. Following these simple steps can aid in the prevention of breaches to corporate security, the company said.
