Ransomware attacks quadrupled in 2016 and will double again in 2017, according to a report issued on Monday by data breach response insurance provider Beazley. 

The “Beazley Breach Insights – January 2017,” found that enterprises are most at risk after being hit with an IT system freeze, at the end of financial quarters and during hectic shopping periods.

 

…even more organisations will be attacked in 2017 and need to have incident response plans in place before they get a ransomware demand. 

 

As the number of attackers is only increasing, the company said the unintended disclosure of personal information – usually via emails or faxes sent to the wrong recipient – is “much more dangerous.” Incidents of this type increased by nearly a third of all breaches in 2016, up from 24 percent in 2015, the study revealed.

The study also found that hacks and malware accounted for 40 percent of data breaches at financial institutions in 2016, up from 27 percent in 2015. Here too the incidence of unintended disclosure, primarily owing to misdirected emails, rose, rising from last year’s tally by four percent – to 28 percent of breaches in 2016 from 24 percent in 2015.

Four steps organizations can take to help protect their data

Perfect cyber security is impossible to attain, but there are steps organizations can take to protect their data. Here are four key steps organizations can take to minimize the risk:

• – Deploy prevention and detection tools;
• – Use threat intelligence services;
• – Train managers and employees on cyber security and threat awareness; and
• – Conduct risk assessments focused on identifying and protecting sensitive data.

Read the full article here.

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