Matt Warman reports:
Data security breaches have risen by 58 per cent in the last year, the Information Commissioner has revealed.
Christopher Graham said that although businesses are taking the protection of their customers’ data more seriously, in fact more breaches were being reported and fewer than half of all individuals believe companies treat personal data appropriately. When asked about online businesses, nearly three-quarters of individuals do not believe their data is secure.
Read more on The Telegraph.
That’s a huge increase, of course, and doesn’t appear quite consistent with what I’m seeing in terms of reports that make it into media sources or other sources that I routinely check.
Of course, the 58% increase might not be a “true” increase in terms of the rate of breaches and might somewhat artificially reflect increased awareness that breaches have occurred, i.e., if entities are simply more aware of and/or reporting more breaches than in the past.
Even so, it’s a troubling statistic.