The DBIR is Finally Here!

After months of waiting, Verizon’s 2013 Data Breach Investigations Report is finally here!

Now in its sixth year of publication this year’s 2013 report does not disappoint. It includes data from 19 global security organizations with an analysis of a 47,000+ security incidents and 621 confirmed breaches. In addition, the 2013 DBIR offers new insight into data thieves and their motives.

Key findings include:

• – Taking the top spot for all breaches is financially-motived cybercrime (75 percent) followed by state-affiliated espionage campaigns claiming the No. 2 spot (20 percent).
• – Hactivist incidents held steady but the amount of data stolen decreased as hactivists shifted to other forms of attacks, such as distributed denial of service attacks.
• – Victims represented a wide range of industries, from financial organizations to manufacturing, transportation and utilities.
• – 38 percent of breaches impacted larger organizations and represented 27 different countries.
• – External attacks remain largely responsible for data breaches with 92 percent of them attributable to outsiders and 14 percent committed by insiders.
• – Hacking is the No. 1 way breaches occur. In fact, hacking was a factor in 52 percent of data breaches.
• – 76 percent of network intrusions exploited weak or stolen credentials (user name/password).
• – The proportion of breaches incorporating social tactics such as phishing was four-times higher in 2012, which the report found directly related to the tactic’s widespread use in targeted espionage campaigns.

“The bottom line is that unfortunately, no organization is immune to a data breach in this day and age,” said Wade Baker, principal author of the Data Breach Investigations Report series. “We have the tools today to combat cybercrime, but it’s really all about selecting the right ones and using them in the right way.

“In other words, understand your adversary – know their motives and methods, and prepare your defenses accordingly and always keep your guard up, “ Baker said.

The full report can be accessed here: http://www.verizonenterprise.com/DBIR/2013/