Types of Data Breach
A data breach occurs when sensitive or confidential information is stolen from a system without the owner’s knowledge or authorization. It can happen to any size company, and can involve all kinds of data—personal financial or medical records, corporate secrets, customer data, intellectual property and more.
Criminals who acquire breached data can sell it on the dark web or use it for identity theft and other crimes. People whose information is compromised are at elevated risk for years afterward, and many suffer significant financial losses. The companies that are attacked can lose their reputation, face lawsuits and even see a drop in stock price.
Types of Data Breach
There are many different ways to categorize a data breach, but the most common ones are unintended disclosure, hacking and physical theft. Many of these attacks occur when security flaws in systems or networks are exploited by cyber attackers. These weaknesses are often caused by weak password protection, unpatched software, easy-to-phish users and lack of encryption on devices.
Other causes of breaches include employee error or negligence, loss of encrypted or misplaced devices (like laptops or smartphones), malware infections and unauthorized access to systems by exploitation of vulnerabilities and flaws. For example, bad actors can gain access to the private data of customers when a company’s servers or mobile app are infected with spyware and other malicious software. They can then steal or exfiltrate that data, and potentially even hijack other devices like yours to speed up the process.