The last report of the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), elaborated in collaboration with data protection systems provider CyberScout, demonstrates that the number of data breaches in the US increased by 40% in 2016 compared to 2015, representing a total of 1093 attacks.
Among the five monitored industries including business, finance, healthcare, education, government and military, the financial services sector was the least affected with only 52 breaches. In most cases, the attacks were carried out through hacking, skimming or phishing operations, which represent the primary causes of data theft since 2008.
Hackers usually focus on state and federal tax filings, which contain highly sensitive information. Moreover, many incidents are the result of CEO spear-phishing attacks.
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