NEW YORK–Phishing/hacking/malware was the cause of 31% of data security incidents during 2015, revealing a shift from 2014 when human error was the leading cause, according to the second annual BakerHostetler Data Security Incident Response Report.
The report found that, similar to the inaugural-year theme, no industry is immune to data security incidents, reinforcing that it is more important than ever that companies take action in advance to become ready for the inevitable incidents to come, the company said.
“Being ‘compromise ready’ better positions companies to respond to data security incidents faster, contain the threat, and potentially lessen the severity of these events,” said Theodore Kobus, chair of BakerHostetler’s privacy and data protection team. “This year’s report has evolved to include more robust data to raise awareness of how these events take place, and also includes the action items companies should take to their boards of directors to plan for the inevitable data security incident.”
The full 2016 BakerHostetler Data Security Incident Response Report can be found here: 2016 Report.
A final section in the report provides the eight components of being compromise ready and identifies measures companies should take to minimize the impact of an incident.
Notable statistics from the report include:
- Cause of incidents: phishing/hacking/malware (31%), employee actions/mistakes (24%), external theft (17%), vendor-related incidents (14%), internal theft (8%), and lost or improper disposal (6%).
- No industry is immune: the healthcare industry (23%) was affected more than any other. Rounding out the top three are financial services (18%) and education (16%).
- Number of individuals notified: for incidents in 2015 where notification was made, the average number of individuals notified was 269,609 and the median was 190,000.
- 52% of the incidents that BakerHostetler helped manage in 2015 were self-detected.
- Detection time – the time from when an incident first began until it was detected – ranged from 0 days to more than 400 days. The average amount of time from incident to discovery for all industries was 69 days, with healthcare taking nearly twice as long as other industries. Average amount of time from discovery to containment was seven days.
- Notification – the average amount of time from discovery to notification – was 40 days.
- Not all incidents require notification to individuals or the public at large. In about 40% of the incidents that BakerHostetler helped manage in 2015, notification or public disclosure was not necessary.
- Credit monitoring was offered in 53% of the incidents that BakerHostetler advised on in 2015 and the average redemption rate was 10%.
- Regulatory inquiries resulted from 24% of incidents reported, and litigation commenced after 6% of the incidents were made public.