Human error still major cause of data breaches

New Delhi Despite increasing efforts to protect critical infrastructure and train employees on cybersecurity protocols, human error still makes up the overwhelming majority of incidents, accounting for 74 per cent of total security breaches across industries globally, a new report said on Tuesday.

According to the US-based telecommunications company Verizon, one of the most common methods of exploiting human nature is social engineering, which refers to manipulating an organisation's sensitive information through techniques such as phishing, in which a hacker persuades the user to click on a malicious link or attachment.

"Senior leadership represents a growing cybersecurity threat for many organisations," said Chris Novak, Managing Director of Cybersecurity Consulting at Verizon Business.

"With the growth and increasing sophistication of social engineering, organisations must enhance the protection of their senior leadership now to avoid expensive system intrusions," he added.

Moreover, the report mentioned that the median cost per ransomware incident doubled over the past two years, with 95 per cent of ransomware incidents that experienced a loss costing between $1 million and $2.25 million. In 2022, the number of ransomware attacks was greater than in the previous five years combined.

Representing almost a quarter of all breaches (24 per cent), ransomware remains one of the top cyberattack methods. Like ransomware, social engineering is a lucrative tactic for cybercriminals, especially as it is increasingly being used to impersonate employees of businesses to gain financial benefits, a type of attack known as Business Email Compromise (BEC). The median amount stolen in BECs has increased over the last couple of years to $50,000, which might have contributed to pretexting nearly doubling this past year.