Cyber thieves target data

There was a 49% increase
in data breaches and a 78%
increase in data records that
were either stolen or lost
during 2014 compared to
2013, according to the Breach
Level Index.
The index recorded over
1 500 major data breaches,
which led to one billion data
records being compromised
worldwide during 2014.
Seven major breaches
were reported in South
Africa during the year and
individuals are being targeted.
“We’re clearly seeing
a shift in the tactics of
cybercriminals, with long-term
identity theft becoming more
of a goal than the immediacy
of stealing a credit card
number,” says Tsion Gonen,
vice president of strategy for
identity and data protection at
Gemalto.
“Identity theft could lead to
the opening of new fraudulent
credit accounts, creating
false identities for criminal
enterprises, or a host of other
serious crimes.