SAN DIEGO–While many if not most have not already done so—and more than once—credit unions need to once again be warning their members about their use of passwords and exposing themselves to online threats, if two new reports are any indicator.
According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit organization established to support victims of identity crime, its 16th Annual Data Breach Report has found the overall number of data compromises (1,862) is up more than 68% compared to 2020, while many Americans continue to use the same, easily deduced passwords.
The new record number of data compromises is 23% over the previous all-time high of 1,506 set in 2017, the ITRC stated, noting the number of data events that involved sensitive information such as Social Security numbers increased slightly compared to 2020 (83% vs. 80%). However, it remained well below the previous high of 95% set in 2017, the organization added.
“The number of victims continues to decrease (down 5% in 2021 compared to the previous year) as identity criminals focus more on specific data types rather than mass data acquisition,” the ITRC stated. “However, the number of consumers whose data was compromised multiple times per year remains alarmingly high.”
The Findings
Other findings in the 2021 Annual Data Breach Report include:
- Ransomware-related data breaches have doubled in each of the past two years. At the current rate, ransomware attacks will surpass phishing as the number one root cause of data compromises in 2022.
- There were more cyberattack-related data compromises (1,603) in 2021 than all data compromises in 2020 (1,108).
- Compromises increased year-over-year (YoY) in every primary sector but one – Military – where there were no data breaches publicly disclosed. The Manufacturing & Utilities sector saw the largest percentage increase in data compromises at 217 percent over 2020.
- The number of data breach notices that do not reveal the root cause of a compromise (607) has grown by more than 190 percent since 2020.
A Shift in Identity Crime
“In 2021, we saw a shift in the identity crime space,” said Eva Velasquez, president and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center. “Too many people found themselves in between criminals and organizations that hold consumer information. We may look back at 2021 as the year when we moved from the era of identity theft to identity fraud. The number of breaches in 2021 was alarming. Many of the cyberattacks committed were highly sophisticated and complex, requiring aggressive defenses to prevent them. If those defenses failed, too often we saw an inadequate level of transparency for consumers to protect themselves from identity fraud.”
“There is no reason to believe the level of data compromises will suddenly decline in 2022,” Velasquez continued. “As organizations of all sizes struggle to defend the data they hold, it is essential that everyone practice good cyber-hygiene to protect themselves and their loved ones from these crimes.”
Surprise! The Most Common Passwords Are…
Meanwhile, a new report from Lookout has found the top 20 passwords that can be found on the dark web. Those passwords include (despite numerous warnings not to use them):
- 123456
- 123456789
- Qwerty
- Password
- 12345
- 12345678
- 111111
- 1234567
- 123123
- Qwerty123
- 1q2w3e
- 1234567890
- DEFAULT
- 0
- Abc123
- 654321
- 123321
- Qwertyuiop
- Iloveyou
- 666666
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