2019 Data Breach Report: Little Good News for Payments

Posted by Jarita on February 25th, 2020

Last year, the number of data breaches that were reported increased by 17%, thus accounting for 1.473 from 1.257 in 2018. This article is about data breach stats and trends associated with 2019 and 2020. Also, it’s about how a processor comparison company can help you with the safest and cheapest payment processing services in the U.S. 

Payment Processor Comparison Company & 2019 Data Breach Report

The latest data breach report by Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) reveals points to 287 cases during the last year. That was a 25% increase from 230 in 2018. 

The 2019 breaches referred to more than 23.3 million records. Also, there was an approximately 50% decrease in the number of total records exposed last year.Because of the 2019 breaches associated with the banking, credit and financial fields, nearly 61% of the sensitive records were exposed. 

What security measures are you taking to protect your online transactions to the best possible way? One thing is certain: working with a reputable payments specialist is just a must. A respectable payments processor comparison companycan provide you with the most honest snapshot of merchant services providers at the time of writing. This way, you can be sure to enjoy the most secure and cheapest payment processing services in the U.S. 

2019 Data Breaches & 2020 Trends

According to the ITRC, the largest data breaches reported a year ago include the following: 

1. Mobile Game Producer Zynga: almost 218 million
2. Video Messaging App Dubsmash: nearly 162 million
3. Financial Corporation Capital One: over 100 million Americans and 6 million Canadians
4. Home Design Website and Community Houzz: 48.881.308 accounts
5. Clinical Laboratory Quest Diagnostics: 11.9 million  

According to Experian, the following 5data breach trends will be dominant this year:

• Text-based “smishing” identity theft
• Hack of consumers’ sensitive information from devices connected to networks without proper protection
• Hack of the operations of bigcommercial companies, creation of geo-political confusion among nation states, as well as financial market attacks.
• Successful industries, e.g., cannabis, will be a target for cyber criminals because of the online activism or “hacktivism”
• Major increase in identity theft 

To sum up, U.S. data breach numbers increased, but there was some decrease in the number of sensitive records exposed. However, financial institutions witnessed the opposite. 

Author Bio: Payment industry guru Taylor Cole (BestPaymentProviders.com) is a passionate payments expert who understands the complex world of merchant accounts. He also writes non-fiction, on subjects ranging from personal finance to stocks to cryptopay. He enjoys eating pie in his backyard porch, as should all right thinking people.