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Security breach trends: Cost, attack strategies and mitigation techniques
Data breaches are becoming an increasingly prevalent security issue. It seems that on a near-daily basis, another company is coming forward to report being a victim of cybercriminals. Within the current environment, it seems that the business sector is losing the fight against cybercrime.
However, once administrators better understand the impact that data breaches can have - not only on their enterprise itself, but all customers and partners connected to the group - they can work to improve their information protection and prevent intrusion.
The cost of a data breach
Although no two security breaches are alike, their effects on businesses across the globe cannot be disputed. According to Dark Reading contributor Ericka Chickowski, the Center for Strategic International Studies and a group of industry experts recently teamed up in an effort to estimate just how much data breaches have cost companies around the world.
"A new analysis … found that the global impact of cybercrime adds up to amounts larger than those of the national income in many countries, coming to an estimated total of more than $400 billion," Chickowski wrote.
In the U.S. alone, researchers estimated that losses resulting from cybercriminal activities totaled over $100 billion. Chickowski noted that this most recent projection far surpasses those of other groups, including the FBI's 2013 estimate that cybercrime cost the U.S. $781.8 million. However, as many breaches still go unreported, these figures may still be under actual total losses.
Security expert Raj Samani noted that these findings will hopefully steer data breach discussions toward the real-world effects such events can have on nations' economies, especially where businesses do not have an adequate focus on their information protections.
"Unfortunately, today when we look at most cybercrime stories, they focus on three things: Who was the victim, what was the malware used, and where did it come from?" Samani said. "We need to start to change the discussion and figure out what the actual impacts are going to be to the organization."
Rise in SQL injection attacks
When looking at data breach trends across sectors, one attack technique is being utilized at an increasing pace. Dark Reading contributor Kelly Jackson Higgins noted that SQL injection attacks have been the cause of a number of recent breaches, including several high profile events in the retail industry.
In fact, according to research from the Ponemon Institute, 65 percent of companies have been impacted by an SQL injection attack within the last year.
"Even though i8t has been around for a while, it seems like you'd expect the security world to line up and solve the problem [of SQL injection]...you don't see that happening," said Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute.
Mitigating strategies for preventing a data breach
When it comes to preventing SQL injections, security expert Michael Sabo said continuous monitoring of databases housing sensitive information is key. Most groups monitor irregularly, or don't monitor at all, leaving themselves open to an attack of this type.
However, this is not the only strategy companies should employ to reduce their chances of a breach. Leveraging and safeguarding all internal authentication credentials and ensuring that software is up-to-date with security patches is also a key element of data protection, noted SC Magazine contributor Rajat Bhargava. Businesses should have a schedule in place to make sure security patches are installed on a regular basis.
Additionally, encryption can prevent cybercriminals from deciphering sensitive content, even if they are able to get past other protection measures. Companies must store the decryption key in a safe location inaccessible to any unauthorized third-party individuals.
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