What is a data breach; Cybersecurity experts report a 40% increase in global data breach incidents in the third quarter of 2023, exposing over five billion records.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A new report from the International Cybersecurity Consortium reveals that a data breach, defined as an unauthorized access or disclosure of sensitive, protected, or confidential information, has surged to historic levels. The analysis, released today, indicates that between July and September 2023, hackers compromised data from individuals and organizations across 87 countries, with healthcare and financial sectors being the most targeted. Experts attribute the rise to sophisticated ransomware attacks and weak perimeter security, urging all entities to implement multi-factor authentication and encrypted storage. The total number of exposed records exceeds five billion, marking this period as the most severe on record for data security failures.