Report: Most data beaches include financial information

The vast majority of data breaches include financial information such as account identification numbers and bank records, according to a recent report from data intelligence platform provider Lab I. .The report analyzed the unstructured files disclosed in nearly 1,300 data breach incidents. Two-thirds of incidents reportedly exposed customer data, while 82 percent exposed HR data. More than half exposed Social Security numbers.Email addresses, extracted in 86 percent of data breaches, were the most frequently extracted sensitive information type. Nearly half of data breaches extracted bank statements, according to the report. “Corporate documents, such as bank records, balance sheets and billing data are a prime target for fraud, extortion and monetization on Darknet markets as they often contain banking details, tax identifiers, or invoicing information,” according to Lab1. Exposing personal financial data leads to identity theft, targeted phishing and regulatory violations, according to the report. Those exposures can then lead to major fines, legal action and a drop in customer trust. “With adversaries now using AI and ML tools to rapidly analyze stolen content and extract structured data, the weaponization of breached data is accelerating,” according to the report. Data breach costs have risen to more than $10 million amid a rise in regulatory penalties and detection costs, according to a report from IBM tracking the security risks posed by artificial intelligence. AI adoption is moving at a faster pace than oversight, according to the company, as the vast majority of AI-related security breaches infiltrated systems that lacked proper access controls.