AT&T releases Cybersecurity Insights report

AT&T has released a report intended to help executives prepare for cyberattacks.
AT&T has released a report intended to help executives prepare for cyberattacks.

AT&T has released “Cybersecurity Insights,” a report intended to help executives prepare for cyberattacks.
The report states that last year, there were nearly 43 million known security incidents, a 48 percent increase from 2013 that equals 117,000 daily attacks. The annual estimated average financial loss per cybersecurity incident in 2014 was $2.7 million, an increase of 34 percent from a year earlier, the report states.
“Every company either has been breached or will be breached,” Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO, AT&T Mobile and Business Solutions, said in a statement. “Keeping a business protected should be a companywide priority. Every employee, contractor and administrator is responsible for keeping security top of mind.”
AT&T said there was a 62 percent jump in the number of attacks that disrupted company operations over the past two years.
Despite the increase in attacks, AT&T, in a news release about the report, said nearly 75 percent of businesses fail to involve their board in cybersecurity oversight, 50 percent of organizations are not re-evaluating their information security as a result of high-profile data breaches (think Target, Sony) and approximately 78 percent of employees do not follow employers’ security policies.
The report states that executives should “enforce an action plan to ensure there’s a consistent risk assessment process in place,” and also should have an understanding as to what data is leaving the company and why the company could be a target of an attack. Executives also should determine if the security team has necessary resources to protect against a breach. The board of directors also should be fully engaged in cybersecurity, the report states.
“Security is not simply a [chief information officer], [chief scientific officer] or IT department issue. Breaches, leaked documents, and cybersecurity attacks impact stock prices and competitive edge. It is a responsibility that must be shared amongst all employees, and CEOs and board members must proactively mitigate future challenges,” John Donovan, senior executive vice president of AT&T Technology and Operations, said in the report.

The report states that the street cost of a stolen medical record is $50, while a stolen Social Security number fetches $1.

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