Social media platforms are quickly becoming a security vulnerability for businesses. In 2021, 41% of all data breaches worldwide were the result of social media data breaches.
This is based on the report of the private browser solution company Atlas VPN. This data provides insight into the global scope of data breaches related to social media.
The report is based on multiple sources including the 2022 ForgeRock Consumer Identity Break Report The 2021 Identity Theft Resource Center research, IBM Ponemon Institute research, and Forrester Research.
It noted that hackers still have the most access to information through social media platforms. A single data breach on one of the most popular social networks could lead to millions of records being stolen.
Atlas VPN says in recent years, it has witnessed many massive data breaches involving companies such as Facebook and Twitter.
In terms of sector, social media accounted for the highest percentage of data breaches, followed by retail, which saw the leakage of 24% of records last year. With 4% of records exposed, the technology industry was third, followed by the healthcare sector, which had 1 percent.
The category classified as “other sectors” represents 42% of the records that were violated.
According to the report, those who share their personal information on social media sites make it easy for criminals to obtain personal information that can be used to commit breaches at companies.
Criminals can prey on business customers by posing as a company to obtain credentials. This is especially common as companies increasingly use social media to communicate with customers.
Fraudsters usually try to infiltrate businesses through connections. This creates a false sense of security.
The rapid growth and large following of social media users provide more and more opportunities for hackers.
Data Breaches in the Industry Source 2022 ForgeRock Consumer Identity Breach Report
Censuswide conducted an online survey on behalf of ProtonVPN and found that 42% of respondents’ personal data was exposed as a result of an online data breach related to social media.
According to the security company Netacea, the world of social media is increasingly becoming a point of vulnerability for many companies around the world, as hackers do not take any risks to steal data from users and use it to build detailed profiles of potential victims to to attack them with targeted phishing.
Atlas VPN also pointed out that retail data breaches will increase in frequency and severity during 2021, a result of rapid growth in e-commerce sales.
“While the average cost of a retail breach was $2.01 million in 2020, the cost jumped 63 percent to $3.27 million by 2021,” says Edward G Cyber Security researcher and editor at Atlas VPN.
Data breaches in the retail sector have mostly focused on customers’ credit cards as well as payment information and personal data.
Online shopping sites and apps often skip security measures, like two-factor authentication, because they’re looking for a user-friendly experience, he says.
Although the healthcare industry is only 1 percent of the records released, the information is often extremely sensitive.
Atlas VPN says data stolen from healthcare facilities typically includes name, address, date of birth and medical history information.
How data is stolen from social media?
Botnets and bots are common on social media. They are used to steal data and send spam.
What is the biggest data breach in history?
Yahoo holds the record for the largest data breach with three billion compromised accounts (Statista). In 2019, Facebook exposed 540 million user records on its Amazon Cloud Server (CBS). A data breach at Marriott International in 2018 affected approximately 500 million guests (New York Times).
How do hackers breach databases?
The majority of data breaches are caused by stolen or weak credentials. If malicious criminals have access to your password and username, they have access to your network.
Are data breaches becoming more common?
In the first quarter of 2019, 381 breaches were reported, affecting more than 4 billion records. To put the previous number in perspective, a total of 3,813 data breaches were reported as of June 30. These data breaches exposed more than 4.1 million records.