New data presented by Atlas VPN has shown that social media and retailing are accountable for 65percent of data breaches in 2021.
The data revealed that while 41percent of all compromised records in 2021 originated from social media data leaks, which is a significant upsurge compared to 25percent in 2020, the retailing sector is responsible for 24 percent.
It also noted that the average cost of a retail breach was $2.01 million in 2020, it increased by 63% to $3.27 million in 2021.
“Social media is quickly turning into a primary security weak point. A single data breach within one of the major social media networks can result in millions of records being stolen. Within the past few years, we have seen multiple large-scale data breaches involving companies like Facebook and Twitter. Yet, we rarely see the bigger picture,” it noted.
According to Atlas VPN, the data presented is based on the 2022 ForgeRock Consumer Identity Breach Report, which gathered data from various sources, such as the 2021 Identity Theft Resource Center, IBM Ponemon, TechCrunch, Forrester Research, as well as UpGuard, and IdentityForce.
A few other factors make social media a security weak point within the current online landscape.
First, criminals can prey on business clients by posing as the company in order to obtain credentials. This is becoming especially prevalent since companies increasingly use social networks to communicate with customers.
Second, fraudsters frequently attempt to infiltrate businesses by leveraging mutual connections, which create a false sense of security.
Moreover, people who overshare on social media make it simple for thieves to locate personal information that aids in company breaches.