Verizon: More Data Was Exposed in 2008 Than From 2004-2007

More electronic records were exposed in 2008 than in the previous four years combined and most of those breaches -- nine out of 10 -- could have been easily avoided with basic preventative controls consistently applied.

In its 2009 Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) Business Data Breach Investigations Report, Verizon Business Security Solutions analyzed 90 confirmed breaches that occurred in 2008, affecting 285 million compromised records. The company's previous data breach report covered from 2004 through 2007, a period that saw 230 million compromised records.

Palo Alto Networks Inc. rethinks the firewall to accurately identify and control applications The dangers of RFID for securing systems Newly-appointed CEO Mark Hatton outlines Core Security's strategy for expanding its role in the security market and the enterprise penetration testing spaceNewly-appointed CEO Mark Hatton outlines Core Security's strategy for expanding its role in the security market and the enterprise penetration testing spaceAbout a third of the breaches in Verizon Business' caseload have been publicly disclosed, and additional disclosures are expected before the end of the year. But many breaches will remain unreported because of the absence of any applicable disclosure requirement.

Among the report's findings: 91% of all compromised records were linked to organized criminal groups; customized malware attacks doubled; and the most common attack vectors were default credentials and SQL injection.

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