2020 was marked by numerous breaches and cyberattacks the nowhere, were unable to escape the increasingly sophisticated hackers, resulting in their systems being compromised and facing serious losses.
The different types of data breaches that occurred during 2020 were reported by Verizon in its annual data breach research report.
To illustrate the types of cyber incidents and see what 2021 has in store, Digital Journal looks back at three major cyber issues reported in the last quarter of 2020.
Hospitals and schools
US healthcare and educational institutions were a key target in 2020. Millions of student, staff and patient data were leaked, while the online services they offer, such as online courses, were also affected.
According to Paul Keely , general manager of Open Systems ' Born in the Cloud business unit , these attacks are a sample of what to expect in 2021 and how important it is for these institutions to take appropriate measures to prevent similar attacks.
Online platforms and breaches
An example of an online platform that was hit in November 2020 is Peatix. The attack resulted in more than 4.2 million user accounts being leaked and made available online.
Commenting on this incident, Robert Prigge, CEO of Jumio, said: “The data breach containing millions of Peatix usernames, emails, and passwords puts these victims around the world at risk for fraud and account takeover. Malicious actors can decrypt hashed passwords and leverage bots to test these login credentials on thousands of websites (including banking portals, social media accounts, healthcare sites, and more). Peatix’s password reset response is not enough to protect its 4.2 million user accounts.”
Video games
Video game companies have not been immune to breaches, however. Capcom, a Japanese video game developer, confirmed a data breach following a recent ransomware attack in October 2020, resulting in the theft of information from approximately 350,000 customers.
Outlook for 2021
The outlook for 2021 is rather bleak, according to Rich Waldron, CEO and co-founder of Tray.io.This is due in large part to the COVID-19. As more personal data is available online, the risk of it being stolen and exploited is high. However, Waldron predicts that: “CIOs will feel increasing pressure to adopt technology that allows organizations to not only take full control of critical data shipments, but also allows that data to flow freely and securely, while protecting employee privacy.”
