The trend of global data breach events is steep and still continuing to tilt upwards. According to the latest data breach investigation report by IBM and the Ponemon Institute, data breach costs in 2021 have reached a record high. Last year, the average cost was US$3.83 million, and this year it has peaked at US$4.24 million. Mitigating these events involves comprehensive management of the entire attack surface, including the third, and even fourth-party vendor network.

Ransomware attacks and data breaches seem to be continuously contending for the top positions in news feeds. But what's the difference between these cyber threats and which should you be most concerned about? For a comprehensive breakdown of each type of cyberattack, read on.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Act is a broad set of data privacy rules that define how an organization must handle and protect the personal data of citizens of the European Union (EU). The Regulation also outlines the way that organizations can report a data breach. Articles 33 and 34 outline the requirements for breach notification; however, most businesses are still unaware of their responsibilities.

Data breaches are now part of doing business, with many companies having been affected. Data is very valuable to criminals because it is often used to commit fraudulent activities as well as to enhance the credibility of scams. Data that is stolen ranges from Social Security Numbers (SSNs) to other identification documents and payment details.

IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2021 analyzed 537 real breaches and conducted nearly 3,500 interviews to uncover the true cost of a data breach in 2020. The publication covers initial attack vectors, how long it took organizations to discover and contain braces, as well as the effects that incident response efforts and artificial intelligence have on mitigating breach costs.