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50 per cent increase in data breaches registered in 2008

2008 saw a 47 per cent increase in internet security data breaches, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), which says reported breaches reached 656 up from 446 in the previous year.

The organisation's 2008 breach report states that of all the breaches, 2.4 per cent had encryption or "other strong protection methods", while less than nine per cent of reported breaches had password protection.

This highlights that the bulk of breached data had no internet security measures in place such as encryption or even passwords, ITRC says.
On the positive side, the report says that "the financial, banking and credit industries have remained the most proactive groups in terms of data protection over all three years".

According to the ITRC, online security breaches experienced by subcontractors could have far reaching effects as due to the fact that such cases can sometimes affect multiple organisations.

Information about the breaches, which covers five categories including data loss methods, data on the move, accidental exposure, insider theft, subcontractors and hacking, is compiled from media sources and reported cases.

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