DATA BREACH 1

Data Breach

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Q1. What is a data breach?

Data breach seems to be a deliberate or accidental leak of protected or

confidential/private data to an environment that is untrusted. Other words for this phenomenon

include data spill, unintended revealing of information, and information or data leakage.

Incidents vary from coordinated attacks by "black hats" or people hacking for some form of

personal gain, connected to the organized activity, political activists, or even national

governments to the irresponsible disposal of computing devices or media storage of data and

sources which cannot be hacked. Data breaches can include "personal health information (PHI)",

financial data like credit card numbers, "personally identifiable information (PII)", trade secrets

of companies, and intellectual property. The bulk of data breaches include overexposed and

insecure unstructured data files, records, and personal information.

Q2. How do data breaches happen?

A data breach occurs when a cyber attacker successfully infects a computer and steals

sensitive information. This can be done manually by accessing the local data hacking system or

network, or through secretly circumventing the security of the network. Factors on how such data

breaches occur can also be traced back to deliberate attacks. Some of them are discussed below.

Directed Malware Attacks

Attackers utilize phishing and spam e-mail techniques to try to deceive the user into

unveiling user info, installing malware attachments, or steering users to insecure websites. Email

seems to be a simple way that malware ends up on one's computer [ CITATION Nor \l 1033 ]. By

opening, any attachments or links in an inbox from a source that is unfamiliar will infect one's

computer with malware. Additionally, these emails can be made to look as if it was from a

reputable source, even though it is not.

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Weak Passwords

Poor and unsafe user passwords are usually easy for hackers to decipher, particularly if

the password includes complete words or phrases. This is why experts warn against basic

passwords and in preference unique and complicated passwords.

Exploiting Vulnerabilities in System

Out-of-date software can create a sort of vulnerability that can slide ransomware on a

computer to capture information by an attacker.

Drive-by Download

One can accidentally download malware or virus by merely browsing a vulnerable web

page. Drive-by-download can usually take control of a browser, application, or any operating

system that seems to have a security vulnerability or is out-of-date.

Q3. Choose one of the biggest data breaches and explain what happens.

During 2014, hackers explicitly attacked the Yahoo's whole user database, impacting

around 500 million users. Cyber attackers are reported to have access to account data like an

individual's email, phone number, passwords, and other private details. CSO Online described

that the attack had originated from a single person in Yahoo's business office. The employee was

shown a somewhat spear-phishing mail containing a link, which in fact downloaded malware on

the server when he clicked it. When Alexsey Belan (the Russian hacker) obtained access to the

server, he set up a back door on the company's server, allowing him exclusive accessibility for

the Company's email accounts from the internal control panel, which is a system that the

company uses to handle changes to accounts, such as changing passwords [ CITATION Kay19 \l

1033 ]. Belan then extracted and exported the copy of Yahoo's whole user database, which he

utilized to extract the personal information of every account holder. Furthermore, the hackers
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then utilized this database to forge passwords, tricking Yahoo administrators into identifying

them as account holders who had effectively remained logged in. The technique is called "cookie

minting," which enabled them to view around 6,500 Yahoo profiles without the requirement for

a password or even username.

Q4. What are the data breach laws?

All fifty states of the United States of America have implemented laws requiring

government or private institutions to notify the people regarding the security breaches of data

containing personally identifiable information [ CITATION NCS20 \l 1033 ]. Security breach

legislation is usually subject to provisions like:

 Who should comply with the legislation? For instance, information or brokers,

government agencies, businesses, etc.

 Meanings of "personal information". For instance, name paired with SSN, driving license

or state ID, account details, etc.

 What entails a breach? For instance, unauthorized possession of data.

 Requirements for notification? For instance, time or method of notification, who should

be notified?

Q5. How can data breaches be prevented?

It's becoming usual to hear about massive security breaches. That is why preventions are

necessary to avoid such events. Some of them are discussed below.

Application of data segmentation

Malicious hackers can fly around the server of a flat mobile network and steal every byte

of valuable info. By introducing data segmentation, one can slow down these attackers, buy more

time during the attack, and limit the stolen data [ CITATION Che17 \l 1033 ].
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Impose PolP

Therefore, PolP ensures that any user account has adequate access to perform its job. If a

user account seems to be co-operated, hackers will not have wider access to the entire network.

Invest in a good cybersecurity

If one has the past of tapping on a dubious link or opening a bad file, a good cyber

protection system will be sure to recognize the threats, prevent downloading, and prevent

ransomware from accessing your network.

"Vulnerability and Compliance Management (VCM)"

Getting a VCM system or at least doing a risk assessment will help one detect physical as

well as virtual infrastructure technology configuration issues, vulnerabilities, and gaps. VCM

could continuously monitor network and IT properties due to vulnerabilities and flaws along

with common configuration activities.

Firmware and Software

This first degree of protection covers things like the antivirus and the operating system,

along with hardware such as routers. One must have to ensure that he is well protected and

frequently updated to better prevent the possibility of an incident.

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References

Bennett, S. C. (2008). Data Security Breaches: Problems And Solutions. Retrieved from

https://www.jonesday.com/files/Publication/2dbb7406-ba13-4305-902a-

8f2c65ef3d49/Presentation/PublicationAttachment/301495c5-31c8-4881-8202-

9dd8665df004/TPL0812-Bennett.pdf

Cheng, L., Liu, F., & Yao, D. (2017). Enterprise data breach: causes, challenges, prevention, and

future directions. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Data Mining and Knowledge

Discovery, 7(5), e1211.

Lawrence, D. (2017). Here’s How Russian Agents Hacked 500 Million Yahoo Users. Retrieved

from Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-16/here-s-how-

russian-agents-hacked-500-million-yahoo-users

NCSL. (2020). Security Breach Notification Laws. Retrieved from

https://www.ncsl.org/research/telecommunications-and-information-technology/security-

breach-notification-laws.aspx

Norton. (2020). What is a data breach? Retrieved from https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-

privacy-data-breaches-what-you-need-to-know.html