European breaches caused by common and basic errors.
Almost half of the data breaches in Europe are caused by miscellaneous errors, system intrusion, and social engineering.
According to results from the latest Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) from Verizon Business analysis of 8,302 security incidents in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) found 49% were ‘initiated internally’, suggesting high instances of privilege misuse and other human errors.
The report found 68% of global breaches globally involve a non-malicious human action, which refers to a person making an error or falling prey to a social engineering attack. However 20% of users identified and reported phishing in simulation engagements, and 11% of users who clicked the email also reported it.
William Wright, CEO of Closed Door Security, said: “The DBIR shows it’s still the basic security errors putting organisations at risk, such as long windows between discovering and patching vulnerabilities, and employees being inadequately trained to identify scams.”
In particular, the exploitation of vulnerabilities as an initial point of entry increased since last year, accounting for 14% of all breaches. “The exploitation of zero-day vulnerabilities by ransomware actors remains a persistent threat to enterprises, due in no small part to the interconnectedness of supply chains,” said Alistair Neil, EMEA senior director of security, Verizon Business.
“Last year, 15% of breaches involved a third party, including data custodians, third-party software vulnerabilities, and other direct or indirect supply chain issues.”
Written by
Dan Raywood
Senior Editor
SC Media UK
Dan Raywood is a B2B journalist with more than 20 years of experience, including covering cybersecurity for the past 16 years. He has extensively covered topics from Advanced Persistent Threats and nation-state hackers to major data breaches and regulatory changes.
He has spoken at events including 44CON, Infosecurity Europe, RANT Conference, BSides Scotland, Steelcon and ESET Security Days.
Outside work, Dan enjoys supporting Tottenham Hotspur, managing mischievous cats, and sampling craft beers.
