Are hacked passwords the crux to data breaches?

According to security and risk management company CSO, hacked passwords are reportedly the cause of 81% of data breaches.

Some may then say “users/individuals should be more cautious about what passwords they use” – but what about the responsibility of businesses and organisations to ensure the safety of their users’ personal data?

The impact of one person’s compromised credentials could be felt far and wide…

Centrify, a leader in securing hybrid enterprises through the power of identity services, noted that four out of five data breaches that occurred this year involved compromised credentials. What this means is that another person or an intruder has gained access to someone’s personal details, and there are a number of ways that such credentials could be compromised.

For example:

As mentioned above, compromised credentials could entail multiple things, not just hacked passwords.

According to the 2017 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), compromised credentials are a big factor to data breaches. Centrify’s Senior Director, Niall King, looks at the statistics and states:

“…for years, we’ve seen compromised credentials as a primary cause of data breaches.”

Mr King notes that the Verizon report states that the number of data breaches have had an unprecedented rise in the past 3 years; from 50% to 66% to 81%. This may demonstrate that today’s cyber-security isn’t secure at all.

Mr King goes on to say that cyber-criminals will find a way to break down the least resistant individuals who have ‘simple factor’ passwords.

Passwords alone aren’t enough for securing data, it seems.

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