Latest Constella Intelligence Report Shows Breach Economy is Expanding
Table of Contents
- By Steven
- Published: May 02, 2022
- Last Updated: May 02, 2022
The statistics and trends highlighted in the latest Constella Intelligence report indicate the number of digital breaches is increasing as time progresses. The cyber landscape is clearly becoming that much more treacherous as we continue the rapid transition to workplaces and general living dominated by web-connected electronics. Let’s take a look at the details of the latest Constella Intelligence report to get a better sense of the types of threats emerging and how businesses should respond to better mitigate vulnerability to those potentially crippling digital attacks.
Digital Security Breach Information of Note
Constella Intelligence, one of the trailblazers in digital risk protection, recently revealed the telecommunications, energy, healthcare, and financial industries are targeted by hackers at especially high frequencies. The report dissects more than 1,000 of the most important breaches of the year gone by. The report zeroes in on six million of the most important records exposed in those attacks.
Cybercriminals are stealing data from companies to exploit them and make money. The challenge lies in identifying the most important patterns in digital security attacks and responding accordingly. According to Constella Intelligence, more than 65,000 digital security breaches occurred in the past year alone. All in all, more than 40 billion personal records were illegally accessed during this period. The cyber security specialists at Constella Intelligence noted that the stolen information had been transmitted to the dark web for nefarious purposes.
Look at Constella Intelligence’s 2022 Breach report, and you will find personal identification details stolen in cyber-attacks are peddled on the dark web markets at prices that are 100% greater than in the past. Furthermore, the report highlights that one out of each three digital security breaches that occurred last year pertained to companies in sectors that are considered to be under the critical infrastructure umbrella.
Sectors in the Crosshairs
The frequency of ransomware attacks on healthcare companies significantly increased during the pandemic. Healthcare and financial services providers, along with companies in the food, energy, utilities, and telecom spaces, constituted slightly more than 33% of all digital security attacks in the year gone by.
Publicly traded companies are also targeted at a high frequency. Threat intelligence specialists found that more than 13,000 digital security breaches occurred at the 30 publicly traded companies that comprise the Dow stock exchange. Those 13,000 breaches led to the exposure of 11 million personal records pertaining to employee credentials. It is even more concerning to learn that a survey of 120 C-suite executives reveals nearly 80% suffered credential exposure in breaches dating back to 2018.
The Frequency of Password Theft is Concerning
It is also interesting to note that one-quarter of businesses in critical infrastructure targeted in attacks report their passwords were exposed to hackers. The theft of login credentials sets the stage for the weaponization of subsequent attacks and the monetization of the data stolen after accessing internal systems without authorization.
Hackers are also using stolen login credentials for identity theft, fraud, botnet infections, etc. As a result, the industry’s top digital security services providers are reinforcing the importance of establishing complex passwords with at least eight letters, numbers, and special characters.
