Which of the following are common causes of breaches? As long as it takes for a company to address breaches in data security, the greater the impact is likely to be. Insecure breaches allow cybercriminals to steal information which gives them more information and opportunities to cause harm. How long will it take for an organization to determine and resolve an incident?
As per the 2024 Cost of a Data Breach Study, the timeframe is 30 days. If incidents are addressed within this time frame, companies invest one million (about 930,000 dollars) less than those that took more time.
However, the study showed that organizations not only have a difficult time addressing a security breach in the timeframe of 30 days, but they also cannot do it within the timeframe of six months.
According to the research, organizations need 187 days to discover a breach, after which the damage could increase.
Which of the following are common causes of breaches? What can organizations do to become better at detecting security breaches? The most effective way to start is by identifying the most likely methods by which security incidents will occur.
The following blog post will discuss Which of the following are common causes of breaches and provide tips on recognizing the causes.
1. Credentials stolen and weak
The theft of passwords is among the most straightforward and frequent reasons for data security breaches. Many people use ad-hoc phrases such as ‘1password’ or “123456,” which means cyber criminals don’t have to break into a sweat to access sensitive data.
Moderately secure passwords are susceptible to being hacked using a computer program that runs through millions of frequent credentials. You should be thinking hard to come up with something unique every time you decide on your password. You’re also at risk if you write down your password and use the exact password to sign up for several accounts.
2. Application vulnerabilities
All software is vulnerable to technical vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit in various ways. This is why organizations that manage these programs regularly investigate and fix vulnerabilities before being identified by criminals.
When a security flaw is patched, the software company releases a patch that must be used by organizations using the software. It is imperative to do this as quickly as possible since crooks, being alerted of the vulnerability – will be searching for companies that are still vulnerable to the risk.
3. Malware
Malware is an excellent illustration of how easy cybercrime can be. Criminals buy a piece of malware, locate an operating system with an infamous vulnerability, install the malware, and reap the cash rewards.
What the rewards are will depend on the kind of malware. It could range from a keylogger that records what a user types into a computer to ransomware that locks an entire system and requires an amount of money from the user to gain access.
4. Malicious insiders
Your employees are likely to be privy to sensitive information, and there’s an opportunity for someone to attempt to use it for a purpose. This may sound snarky; however, the potential for financial gain by selling information through the dark web is too tempting for many.
Employees may also cruelly use sensitive information in the event of discontent with their work environment or quit the organization in bad conditions and can access its systems.
5. Insider error
Employees don’t need to be intended to cause the crime of data breach. They may make mistakes, such as putting the wrong name on an email’s Cc line, attaching an unrelated document, or even losing their laptops.
Make sure your business is secure by conducting penetration testing
Which of the following are common causes of breaches? One of the best methods to safeguard your company from data common causes of breaches is to use the practice of penetration testing. It is an uncontrolled cyber attack carried out by an ethical hacker. The aim is to find weaknesses in security that criminal hackers might exploit to gain access to malicious information.
Penetration testers employ the same tactics as hackers who commit crimes by replicating their methods as closely as possible.
As a result, companies can view their systems the same way that an attacker would – – identifying weaknesses and the ways they can be exploited and the information that could be disclosed.
Testing for penetration comes in various forms, with each testing designed to detect particular weaknesses. For instance, you could examine penetration to identify security holes in applications or determine whether employees are at risk of leaking sensitive information.
Read Also: Which of the following are breach prevention best practices?
Tests are also performed to find incorrect or insufficient configurations, as well as to look for weaknesses in software or hardware, and also to identify operational weaknesses.
