TOKYO, Japan—A new study shows that data hackers are more interested today in stealing health information and Uber accounts than they are traditional personal identity information, such as name, address and social security number.
The study from Trend Micro analyzed 10 years’ worth of information about high-profile U.S. data breaches.
“The report from Trend Micro moves past the discussion of the individuals affected and how they can protect themselves. Instead, the report examined what actually happens to the data and attempted to get a picture of what attackers are looking for, how they use the data, how much it costs, and where it eventually ends up,” said Bill Hardekopf, CEO at LowCards.com, Birmingham, Ala.
While data breaches are what make headlines, the study shows that data is more often taken due to people losing their devices. Device loss or theft accounts for 41% of breaches, while hackers or malware only account for 25%.
Many companies are not taking enough precautions protecting the sensitive information on its employees’ laptops and mobile devices, the report said.
“However, while simple solutions are available to protect devices, it is hard to stop hackers. Criminals breach networks—such as Ashley Madison—because they can get large amounts of valuable data. Most often, malware or social engineering will be used, but former employees will also leak data if they are unhappy with their former company,” said Hardekopf.
While hackers are looking for personal identifiable information (PII), the price has actually dropped on the cybercriminal underground. The price of a "line" of data—consisting of at least a name, address and Social Security number—sold for $4 last year but only sells for $1 today due to a much greater supply of PII. Instead, many criminals are looking for health information and Uber accounts.
Breaking down cyber-attacks to see which industries are targeted the most, the reports shows the healthcare sector accounts for 26.9% of all breaches, education is second with 16.8%, while government agencies are 15.9%. Retailers only account for 12.5% of all breaches.