Data breaches tracked in the United States hit an all-time high in 2016, just one of several substantial statistical increases according to a new report released by the Identify Theft Resource Center and CyberScout.
Tracked through direct contact with states' attorney general offices, as well as through Freedom of Information Act requests, overall breaches numbered 1,093, a 40 percent increase over the high of 780 reported in 2015.
Of those, 72 are attributed to the government/military (making up 6.6 percent of the total). This is a 14 percent increase in the federal sector.
Hacking, skimming and phishing — particularly spear phishing efforts to exfiltrate tax filings — remained the leading cause of data breach for the eighth consecutive year, accounting for 55.5 percent of overall breaches (an increase of 17.7 percent over 2015). Social Security numbers were exposed in 52 percent of breaches (8.2 percent more than 2015 figures).
"More than half of the breaches reported by the ITRC included the skeleton key to our lives: The Social Security number," Adam Levin, chairman and founder of CyberScout, said.
"This trend, which has accelerated since 2015 — when just four breaches exposed over 120 million Social Security numbers to state-sponsored hackers and cyber criminals — represents the point of no return for millions of Americans. While credit and debit card numbers can be changed, SSNs cannot. Therefore, monitoring and damage control become even more important than ever before."
As it strives to present an accurate picture of data breaches, the Identify Theft Resource Center hopes businesses and government reporting organizations pursue increased transparency to allow consumers a better view of risks to personal information.
The 272-page report can be accessed at IDTheftCenter.org.
