Proton’s new Data Breach Observatory shines a light into the dark web
Date breaches affecting businesses and online services are ever more frequent and can affect anyone who is unfortunate enough to be a customer or supplier.
Finding out the facts about a breach can be tricky, however, as information is heavily reliant on self-disclosure. Proton is launching its Data Breach Observatory, which delivers a truer picture of the risks by monitoring and reporting cyberattacks and data breaches based on data sourced directly from the dark web.
Alongside individual exposures the dark web contains countless compilations of data from multiple breaches. Data Breach Observatory excludes these aggregated datasets, focusing solely on breaches tied to a single, identifiable organization.
Small and medium businesses (SMBs) are particularly vulnerable to data breaches. Proton’s research finds that companies with 10–49 employees and those with 50–249 employees accounted for 48 percent of breach incidents, while businesses with fewer than 10 employees made up 23 percent. When looking at industry sectors, retail and wholesale trade were the most frequently targeted, representing over a quarter (25.4 percent) of breaches. Technology firms followed at 15 percent, with media and entertainment companies accounting for 11 percent of exposures.
Looking at the types of data exposed Proton finds: email addresses feature in 100 percent of exposures, names in 90 percent, contact information such as phone numbers or addresses in 72 percent, passwords in 49 percent and sensitive information such as government records or health information in 34 percent of exposures.
Eamonn Maguire, director of engineering, AI and ML at Proton says, "Our mission with the Data Breach Observatory is simple, to reveal unseen breaches and to alert affected businesses and organizations as they happen. This is part of Proton's drive to empower organizations and individuals with the tools to protect themselves. Data breaches targeting online services are becoming ever more frequent, with over three hundred million individual records already exposed this year on the dark web. If your credentials are compromised, receiving timely alerts is essential to secure your accounts, prevent identity theft, and minimize financial losses, through awareness and Proton's product offerings we hope to help businesses and individuals limit the impact of such breaches."
Data Breach Observatory is intended to serve as a continuously updated resource, highlighting notable breaches identified on the dark web in partnership with Constella Intelligence. By actively monitoring these criminal hubs, Proton will generate original, timely reports on emerging data breaches. The Observatory will also enable Proton to alert affected businesses and organizations potentially before they are even aware of a leak, helping them secure systems, protect against future attacks, and alert any impacted customers.
You can find out more on the Proton site.
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