It is estimated there are some 2,200 cyber attacks every day, meaning that close to a million occur by the end of each year. This impacts businesses of every size as well as private individuals, governments, and NGOs. Often hackers will use brute force or exploit vulnerabilities to gain access to systems and databases before siphoning off data to sell and use for their own gain. With breaches, data is accidentally made available to those that are looking for it, and sometimes those that are not. Both are equally devastating and can have far-reaching consequences for everyone involved.
| Rank | Company | Sector | Year | Records Compromised |
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There are many ways companies can improve their data security to prevent hacks and breaches.
Firstly, it is important that they have the best infrastructure in place including databases, security systems, virus checkers, and programmes that notify in real time of any breaches or suspicious activity.
It is also essential that users, be they, employees or customers, adhere to security best practices such as using secure and unique passwords, always logging out, and not sharing account information with anyone else.
Companies should also endeavour to use cloud-based platforms which offer more security, as well as special software to prevent DDOS attacks. There are many different solutions for every kind of business and risk, the key is to keep up to date with evolving threats and do your best to respond.
