Hacktivism: Leading Cause for Compromised Data in 2011

Verizon’s new report identifies that hactivists were responsible for more than half of the data stolen from companies in 2011.  What is more of a concern to me is that 98 percent of the data breaches covered in the new report came from external agents.  More troubling is that 83% were identified as organized criminal groups.

Hacktivists are searching for headlines and ways to embarrass whichever company they chose to oppose.  The greater concern is the under the radar criminal groups who are after transaction data or personal identifying information with profit in mind.  I wonder how many companies have been breached without it being detected or reported. 

From reviewing the report I am forced to wonder about all of the small to mid-size targets that are going through day to day operations with limited security and protection.  I wonder how long it will be before we hear of companies being extorted for money to prevent the damage to their reputation by perpetrators of a breach. 

For the small to mid-size companies I strongly suggest you take a careful look at what data you have and how it is protected.  You won’t need to build a Fort Knox of security around it if you take some simple precautions with how you store it. The time and money you invest in doing it right will be a lot less expensive than paying for a breach.