Equifax, Yahoo, Verizon, Dun & Bradstreet, Gmail – and even the IRS. These are just a few of the major data breaches that stole headlines, eroded consumer confidence, and put companies and government agencies on high alert in 2017.
According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, the total number of 2017 breaches topped 1,300, an increase of more than 21 percent over the record set in 2016. But what stands out as significant in 2017 is that more than 172.4 million records were exposed. That’s a shocking 371 percent increase over the total records exposed in 2016.
Cyberthieves are finding data-rich targets in retail, financial services, healthcare, social media companies and government agencies on the city, state and federal levels.