- Data breaches have become the norm as our lives increasingly migrate to virtual space.
- That requires a lot of prudence in how we transact our online business.
- CryptoMonday has presented data showing that Russia attracted the most data exploits in Q1 2022.
As we modernize, our physical and virtual identities become increasingly intertwined. That creates a new challenge; how we can best protect our most intimate and confidential information. Unfortunately, data breaches have become the norm requiring a lot of prudence in how we go about our online business.
According to a CryptoMonday analysis, Russia reported the most data breaches in Q1 2022. The country reported 3.5 million such incidences representing an 11% surge in their Q4 2021 occurrences. That increase saw it leapfrog the U.S. as the most affected country globally.
CryptoMonday’s CEO, Jonathan Merry, has been sharing his thoughts on the revelation. He holds, „You can’t divorce Russia’s data breaching woes from its incursion into Ukraine. That action has earned it many enemies within the hacker community. These are targeting Russian „assets“ in solidarity with the Ukrainian people. A perfect example would be the Anonymous hacker group who’ve announced a hacking campaign against the nation.“
CryptoMonday’s analysis shows that the Russian data violations peaked in March. The country recorded a 136% spike in those breaches from February’s occurrences. That was a fivefold jump from January’s figures, underlining the need for vigilance in our online activities.
Which nations reported the highest number of data breaches?
Though alarming, a surge in the Russian numbers pales in comparison to events elsewhere. Hong Kong, for instance, recorded a 946% jump in those episodes. That upswing saw the country’s load of data leaks hit the 311,000 mark in Q1 2022.
Poland is another nation that recorded a proliferation of data intrusion cases. The country’s Q1 2022 tally of those events rose by 514% from Q4 2021 to stand at 916,000. Again, telephone phishing accounted for a majority of those exploits. Meanwhile, Taiwan (295%), Australia (87%), and Turkey (34%) also reported huge leaps in those cases.
South Korea registered the biggest drop in data breaches
It hasn’t been all gloom and doom for the global IT fraternity. Many other nations registered declines in their cases of compromised data. South Korea leads the way here, having reduced its Q4 2021 occurrences by 92%!
Similarly, Brazil cut down its last quarter’s numbers by 80%. Other nations that made big progress in containing data breaches were Spain (70%), Ukraine (67%), Canada (63%), and India (62%).
The U.S that has been leading in these attacks, reduced them by 47%. That drop continues the downward trend in those happenings that began in Q4 2021. That streak has seen it drop a rung lower in the notoriety of those happenings.
