More Data Thefts Affect Individuals, Verizon Report Finds

Of the 855 data thefts that were reported to law enforcement authorities last year, 97 percent could have been avoided through basic, relatively inexpensive safety measures, according to an annual report released by Verizon.

The majority of those thefts, 58 percent, were carried out by so-called hacktivists, or hackers with an ideological agenda, the report concludes. But it’s worth bearing in mind that Verizon’s tally does not include heists that private companies kept to themselves. Hacktivists who operate under the banner of Anonymous and its offshoots disclose their handiwork – usually by broadcasting it on Twitter and dumping their stolen goods on Pastebin and BitTorrent. “The online world was rife with the clashing of ideals, taking the form of activism, protests, retaliation and pranks,” Verizon wrote in its report. Unlike in the past, the impact of data breaches on individuals has become acute. In 2011, 95 percent of the stolen data included what is known as personally identifiable information: names, e-mail addresses and Social Security numbers, which are all targets of Anonymous and its affiliates. By contrast, in 2010, only 1 percent of the stolen data included such individual information. Where did the thieves come from? Nearly 70 percent of the breaches originated in Eastern Europe. Two-thirds of all breaches required “low” or “very low” skill levels.