Cyber spotlight falls on boardroom ‘privilege’ as incidents soar

Verizon’s annual Data Breach Investigations Report has found that 75% of data breaches in the past year involved human error. This includes social engineering attacks such as pretexting, where a perpetrators tricks a person into handing over personal data. Senior business leaders often fall victim to these attacks, and the report suggests that businesses must improve these leaders’ protection to avoid costly system intrusions. The increased sophistication of social engineering likely contributed to a doubling in the median amount stolen in a BEC attack, now standing at $50,000.