Credentials are the most sought-after data in a hack (Verizon): Verizon’s report for 2021 on data security found that credentials are still one of the most sought-after data types, followed by personal data like social security numbers, names, and addresses. This demonstrates the importance of users protecting their own data and business data when using digital assets. IBM’s data report for 2021 also found hackers to be in search of personal details. The most common records compromised in this report were customer PII and anonymized customer data.
100 Mind-Blowing Credentials Facts
More than 85% of breaches in 2021 involved a human element (Verizon): The Verizon Data Breach Investigations report for 2021 found around 85% of breaches involved a human element, and 61% involved using an employee’s credentials stolen from the business. In 2021, the majority of attacks came from social engineering, phishing, and Denial of Service attacks, according to Verizon. Particularly, Phishing became one of the most significant threats during the pandemic.
In 2021 the most common initial attack vector was compromised credentials (IBM): IBM reported the most common initial attack vendor to be compromised credentials in hacking cases. In other words, this is when people lose their username or password. Compromised credentials accounted for around 20% of attacks, while phishing was responsible for 17%, and cloud misconfiguration led to around 15% of hacks. Though business email compromise was responsible for only 4% of hacking incidents in this report, it also had the highest average cost at around $5.1 million per attack. The second most expensive initial attack vector was phishing, at around $4.56 million.