Data leakage grows 140% YOY
The year 2020 was challenging for the world not only because of the global pandemic but also due to a wide array of cybersecurity challenges we faced.
According to the data analyzed by the Atlas VPN team based on the 2020 Year End Data Breach QuickView Report by Risk Based Security, the number of leaked data records worldwide hit a whopping 37 billion in 2020. It is a 140% increase from 15 billion records in 2019.
The majority — 82% or over 30 billion of data records — were compromised in only five major breach incidents. All of them were a result of misconfigured databases or services.
The most commonly exposed type of data were names, leaked in 46% of data breaches last year. Next up are email addresses, which were compromised in 32% of incidents.
While leaked records reached never-before-seen highs in 2020, the number of actual data breaches shrank by 48%. It went down from 7,553 breaches in 2019 to 3,932 in 2020.
In total, 77% of data breaches last year were caused by outside actors, 16% by insider threats, while the rest is unknown. What is more, 676 breaches last year included ransomware as an attack element — a 100% rise compared to 2019.
The healthcare sector suffered the most
The year 2020 posed many cybersecurity challenges for companies around the world. However, some sectors were affected more than the others.
Last year was certainly hard on the healthcare industry, which dealt with more data breaches than any other sector. In 2020, the healthcare industry faced 484 hacks, which account for 12% of all last year’s breaches.
The information sector was also highly targeted. It suffered 429 hacks, which made up 11% of data breaches last year.
Rounding out the top three industries in terms of data breaches last year is the finance and insurance sector. In 2020, the industry faced 382 hacks — 10% of last year’s breaches.
Rachel Welch, COO of Atlas VPN, shares her thoughts on the rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape:
“All in all, the year 2020 has taught us that it is hard to predict what the future holds for cybersecurity. In a single year, breached data files more than doubled, reaching record-high numbers, as did the number of hacks that included a ransomware component.
However, there were fewer actual data breaches reported. It suggests that data breaches are growing in severity, with fewer incidents exposing more personal information than ever before.”
To read the full article here.
Join Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe, Vice President of Nigeria, Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, etc on March 6
Join me, the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (Godwin Emefiele), the Vice President of Federal Republic of Nigeria (Prof Yemi Osinbajo), Chairman of Afreximbank (Prof Okey Oramah), Prof Olawale Sulaiman, and Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa, on March 06, as we discuss the new CBN policy and more.
Saturday, March 06, 2pm WAT – register free and join us.
Goldman Sachs Anoints Bitcoin As It Opens A Cryptocurrency Desk:
Goldman Sachs anoints Bitcoin as it opens a cryptocurrency desk: “Goldman Sachs Group Inc has restarted its cryptocurrency trading desk and will begin dealing bitcoin futures and non-deliverable forwards for clients from next week, a person familiar with the matter said.” As the US banking giant readies the playbook, it is exploring a bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF) and has issued a notice to explore digital asset custody, Reuters reports
While its price has risen significantly over the past year, bitcoin remains highly volatile. The virtual currency smashed through $58,000 on February 21 then fell back by as much as 25% but has recovered some lost ground.
This makes the coin and related derivatives attractive for investors willing to take riskier long or short positions as they hunt for yield in a record-low interest rate environment.
Non-deliverable forwards are a type of derivative that allows investors to take a view on bitcoin’s future price.
Watch out, with the freezing of this asset class in Nigeria, and the government making sure that its young people, who are already ecosystem players, become spectators, and in five years, Nigeria will ask GS to manage a part of our foreign earnings within its cryptocurrency desk. The reason would be: no company in Nigeria can do that for Nigeria and we have to hire Goldman Sachs.
Yet, I expect the government to reverse course before the end of Q3 after they have studied the sector. What will happen is that Nigeria will regulate it but allow young people to participate in the sector.
Key 5 Values Nigerian FM Industry Professional Body First Executive Members Are Bringing to the Industry
In 2018, the Association of Facilities Management Practitioners of Nigeria (AFMPN) birthed after several years of consultation with the key stakeholders in the industry and government officials at the Federal level. It was on Wednesday 27th June, 2018 at Onikan City Mall that practitioners and key players gathered for the announcement of the association.
Analysing the event, the gathering indicates that the rapid growth of the industry valued at less than $1 billion is no longer far, but near. While introducing the association, Paul Erubami one of the Chief Executive Officers of key players in the industry says: “This association will work with the various stakeholders, affiliate associations, similar bodies, associated international bodies among others to achieve the core purpose. We will liaise with similar professional bodies and academic institutions towards the development of the right skills and knowledge for the industry’s growth.”
Some days ago, Mr Collins Osayamwen was elected as the first president of the young association. Mr Paul Erubami became the deputy president while Mrs Olatokunbo Lawal, Mr Olumide Aina and Mr Timothy Adeyemi were elected as Directors of Finance and Administration, Membership and Professional Development, and Marketing Communication & Public Relations respectively.
These executive members have varied years of experience from different positions. Analysis of the years of experience indicates that they have 15 years as average, while they have 75 cumulative years of experience. Our analyst notes that this is laudable for an emerging industry that needs radical development with sustainable innovations in the areas of collaboration, knowledge acqusition and development.
Exhibit 1: Years of Experience
Mapping and analysis of the core features in experiences of the elected members indicate that people performance and management, processes and standardization, planning, sustainability and optimization are likely to be the early core benefits the members and players in the industry would derive from the elected executives.
Available information reveals that Mr Collins Osayamwen have cognate experience in the areas of processes and procedures standardisation. This was gleaned from his fellowship and membership of national and international organisations responsible for institutionalisation of best local and global practices. His strengths, according to our analyst, would be further strengthened with over 20 years of experience in consulting and training across multiple sectors and across many countries in Africa of Mr Paul Erubami,a licensed IFMA instructor on FMP, CFM, SFP and other programmes.
Process and people transformation prowess of Mrs Olatokunbo Lawal, the Chief Executive Officer of Wilco, would be a great addition. Industry and academic teaching experience of Mr Olumide Aina are expected to be added value to the association. With his election, our analyst notes that the association should be able to have a number of strategic partnerships with academic institutions.
Exhibit 2: Core Values in Experience
