If it seems like there’s a new data breach every time you scroll through the news, it’s because security assurance is at an all-time low while cybercriminal tactics are growing more intelligent by the day. Nearly one third of all modern cyber incidents involve data theft and leak, and many require companies to pay ransoms to buy back the stolen information. With cyberattacks clearly on the rise, our need for digital security assurance has never been higher, and that’s no sales pitch – that’s the unfortunate truth.
In 2023, global data breaches increased by 72%, and each breach caused an average loss of $4.45 million. In the U.S. alone, financial loss to data leaks reached $9.48 million. The only way to stop these deep cuts into our digital security is by implementing more robust cybersecurity measures, keeping our KYC compliance up to date, and investing in comprehensive fraud prevention solutions that can help mitigate our risk.
If your business has already fallen prey to a data breach, or if you’re bracing your brand for a future attack, this post is here to help. We’ll take a closer look at data breaches, how they’ve affected businesses over the past decade, and how businesses like yours can increase their cybersecurity measures to protect themselves.
What Is a Data Breach?
A data breach is a kind of cyber attack where criminals exploit a weakness in technology or user behavior to gain unauthorized access to data. Even in today’s world of password verifications and biometric authentications, hackers are still finding routes around these identity verification services and putting millions of people at risk. Cyber security attacks can take many forms, from phishing, brute force, and malware to DDoS and personal data breaches. They can target individuals, businesses, and even governments – no one is off limits or out of reach.
In most instances, cybercriminals hack confidential personal information from users of large platforms. They steal passwords, social security numbers, or bank account numbers. Attackers may also use the leaked personal data to steal individuals’ identities, gain access to their social accounts, ruin their credit ratings, rack up exorbitant credit card bills, or even create new fake identities to bankroll future attacks.
Yet data breaches can also affect corporations; fraudsters steal customer records or financial data, which ends up costing U.S. businesses an average of almost $10 million per incident. No matter which way you slice it, data breaches are a very real (and expensive) threat to security assurance, and customers and companies alike need better identity theft protection to feel safe.
Devastating Data Breaches: A Recent History
Millions of records are stolen via data breaches every day, we just don’t always hear about them. Personal user data leaks can compromise a user’s social security, credit score, and finances; government compromises can lead to the exposure of confidential military, political, or financial information to foreign parties; and business leaks can wreck an organization’s reputation and profit.
Simply put, the larger the company, the more dangerous the breach and the more severe the damage. Breach consequences tend to be especially severe for organizations in highly regulated fields like healthcare, finance, and the public sector, where steep fines and KYC compliance penalties can compound the costs. When the breach affects very large businesses, the effects are also often published for all to see, leading to elevated PR expenses and causing many people to lose trust in those companies. These are some of the most notable and devastating data breaches in the past decade:
Elevated Security Assurance: How EVS Identity Verification Services Can Keep You Safe
EVS brings more than 24 years of experience to the table. We partner with companies in highly regulated industries like healthcare and finance to create robust fraud prevention strategies and maintain regulatory KYC compliance, and we can create a bespoke solution for your brand to keep you as safe as possible, too.
Our cybersecurity measures are a mixture of KYC compliance, fraud prevention, and identity verification services that work together to provide quick, seamless, and accurate security assurance. Interested in our solutions? Here’s a quick look at the highlights:
If you’re ready to take your security assurance to the next level and want to build a custom solution, EVS has the tools to make it happen. The comprehensive BlueAssure platform allows your business to verify thousands of customers while mitigating your chances of fraud. Reach out to the EVS team today to see how AssureKYC, AssureID, and the entire BlueAssure platform can protect your business from stolen and false identities, reduce reputational damage, fines and penalties, and ultimately drive revenue.
