What Is a Data Breach?

How Does a Data Breach Happen?

Data breaches can occur in a variety of ways, but all of them involve a bad actor taking advantage of an open door—whether it was opened for them or they had to knock. Let’s take a look at some of the most common ways breaches occur.

• Human error: Data oversharing, lost or stolen devices, or a failure to stay on top of software updates can all be contributing factors in a data breach—and all of these factors can be mitigated by sharing best practices.
• Unauthorized access and insider threats: Weak or compromised authentication mechanisms can allow unauthorized users from inside or outside an organization to gain access to sensitive data and intellectual property.
• Vulnerabilities and misconfigurations: Unpatched software can contain known vulnerabilities that enable hackers to gain access. Insecure configurations can create similar gaps even in otherwise secure systems.
• Weak passwords and poor authentication: Failure to implement a strong password policy or a strong authentication system such as two-factor authentication (2FA) leaves your data vulnerable to theft.

Types of Data Breaches

Whether they occur through malice or negligence, data security breaches are the result of a bad actor mindfully spotting an opportunity to infiltrate an individual’s or organization’s systems. Here are some of the most common breaching techniques.

• Ransomware and other malware: Ransomware can encrypt, exfiltrate, destroy, and/or leak data, potentially causing catastrophic data loss. Other forms of malware can do anything from spying on users’ activities to giving attacks control of the system.
• Phishing and social engineering: Phishing attacks, often delivered via email, use manipulative social engineering techniques to trick users into revealing login credentials or sensitive information.
• Man-in-the-Middle (MiTM) attacks: MITM attacks will intercept communications between two parties to steal or modify data. Common examples include NetBIOS Name Service (NBT-NS) poisoning, and multicast DNS (mDNS) poisoning.
• SQL injection: SQL injections insert malicious SQL statements into an entry field to extract data. If an attacker gets write access to a database, they can insert malicious code which will then be rendered for all users.
• Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks: Denial-of-service attacks disrupt the service of an internet-connected host to its intended users by sending the targeted network or server a constant flood of traffic to overwhelm a system.

The Impact of a Data Breach

A data breach can have far-reaching consequences beyond the immediate exposure of sensitive information. Knowing its potential impact is crucial, as it can affect all facets of an organization, both day-to-day and long-term.

• Financial losses: A data breach can lead to significant financial losses due to fines, legal fees, and the cost of addressing vulnerabilities and compensating affected customers, impacting the business’s bottom line.
• Legal consequences: Organizations may face legal actions, including lawsuits and regulatory penalties, for failing to protect sensitive information, which can result in long-term legal battles and substantial financial settlements.
• Reputational damage: A data breach can severely damage a company’s reputation, leading to loss of customer trust, negative media coverage, and a decline in brand loyalty, which can take years to rebuild.
• Operational disruption: The response to a data breach often requires diverting resources from regular business operations, leading to delays, reduced productivity, and potential disruptions in service delivery.

How to Respond to a Data Breach

When a data breach occurs, businesses must respond swiftly and strategically in order to mitigate additional damage or fallout. Creating an effective plan can make the difference between a manageable incident and a full-blown crisis. Here’s what to do:

• Contain the breach
  • Isolate affected systems to prevent further unauthorized access
  • Disable compromised accounts and update security credentials
• Assess the scope and impact
  • Identify the nature and extent of the breach
  • Determine the type(s) of data involved and the number of affected individuals
• Notify relevant parties
  • Inform affected individuals, regulatory bodies, and stakeholders as required by law
  • Communicate clearly about the nature of the breach, potential risks, and steps being taken to mitigate harm
• Implement a recovery plan
  • Restore affected systems using backups, if possible
  • Patch vulnerabilities to prevent future breaches
• Document the incident
  • Keep detailed records of how the breach occurred, the response steps taken, and any lessons learned
  • Use that documentation to improve security policies and procedures
• Review and update security measures
  • Conduct a thorough review of existing security protocols
  • Implement enhanced security measures to reduce the likelihood of future breaches
• Consider legal and regulatory obligations
  • Consult with legal counsel to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations
  • Be prepared for potential legal actions or fines
• Engage with cybersecurity experts
  • Consider bringing in external cybersecurity professionals to assist with investigation and remediation
  • Review and improve the organization’s incident response plan with expert guidance

Notable Data Breach Examples

Exploring historical instances of data breaches helps to illustrate the severity and impact such incidents can have. Here are some significant data breaches that have happened over the last five years.

• SolarWinds (2020): A nation-state attack that exposed data via a supply chain compromise
• Facebook (2019): Exposed 540M records due to unsecured databases on cloud servers
• Marriott (2020): 5.2M guests’ data leaked due to compromised login credentials
• Capital One (2020): 106M records compromised via a misconfigured firewall
• T-Mobile (2021): 40M records stolen through an exposed API vulnerability

These examples demonstrate the litany of ways a business can be compromised via something as seemingly harmless as a misconfiguration, a poor password, or vulnerability. In the next section, we'll cover how businesses can prevent becoming new stories like the ones above.

How Can Businesses Prevent Data Breaches?

Organizations can significantly reduce the risk of data breaches by adopting proactive measures. Below are some key strategies businesses can use:

• Set strong passwords: Encourage the use of complex, unique passwords that combine letters, numbers, and symbols. Implement multifactor authentication (MFA) to add an extra layer of security, reducing the risk of unauthorized access.
• Educate and train employees: Regularly conduct training sessions to inform employees about the latest phishing tactics, social engineering, and best practices for data security. Employees are often the first line of defense against cyberthreats.
• Implement ​identity and access management (IAM): Use IAM solutions to ensure that only authorized personnel have access to sensitive data. Continuously review and update access controls to align with employees’ roles and responsibilities.
• Consider data security posture management (DSPM): Implement a cloud-based DSPM solution that enables you to continuously monitor and assess your posture by identifying vulnerabilities. With DSPM, you can maintain compliance, detect misconfigurations, and quickly respond to potential threats.

Zscaler Data Security Posture Management

Zscaler Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) provides granular visibility into your cloud data, classifies and identifies data and access, and contextualizes data exposure and security posture.

With Zscaler DSPM, give your security and risk teams the tools and confidence to:

• Set stronger security and reduce the risk breaches: By automating identification and management of misconfigurations, outdated policies, faulty data classification, excessive permissions, and more, DSPM helps you better protect your data.
• Maintain compliance and your reputation: By auditing your policies against data protection laws and regulations (e.g., HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA), DSPM helps you avoid fines and legal action while assuring customers and partners that their data is secure.
• Eliminate your attack surface through effective data discovery: With a holistic view of where your data is located—even across multicloud and SaaS environments—you can more confidently create policies and controls that suit the needs of your organization and its data assets.
• Increase operational efficiency and lower costs: Using automation to continuously monitor and strengthen your security posture, DSPM enables your security team to focus on other high-value priorities while helping you avoid the costs of a breach.

Don’t wait until you experience a data breach—start protecting sensitive information today. Request a demo to learn how you can proactively secure your sensitive data with agentless, fully integrated DSPM.