December 8, 2023 at 05:34PM
An Apple-commissioned report emphasized the importance of end-to-end encryption in safeguarding sensitive data amidst a significant surge in data breaches and compromised records. The study underscored the rise in ransomware campaigns and vendor attacks as contributors to the worsening data security landscape. The report also highlighted the challenges and complexities organizations face in implementing robust encryption measures, especially in the context of cloud computing. It urged organizations to prioritize user-friendly encryption technologies and leverage shared responsibility models offered by cloud providers and SaaS vendors.
The meeting notes highlight the increasing threat of data breaches and the need for organizations to prioritize end-to-end encryption to protect sensitive data. The report commissioned by Apple based on an independent study from MIT revealed a sharp increase in data breaches and compromised records over the past two years, with a staggering 2.6 billion personal records exposed. Ransomware campaigns and attacks on trusted technology vendors were key contributors to this trend, with the number of ransomware attacks in the first nine months of 2023 being 70% higher than the same period in 2022.
The report emphasizes the importance of encrypting data while in use, in transit, and at rest, citing the effectiveness of encryption in protecting stolen data against misuse and rendering it useless to unauthorized parties. Despite regulations and industry mandates recommending encryption, many organizations have been slow to adopt it due to concerns over complexity, cost, performance impact, and key management challenges. The rapid adoption of cloud computing has further added complexity to data encryption efforts.
To address these challenges, the report recommends prioritizing user-friendly encryption technologies and phased implementations to minimize disruption to daily operations. It also advises organizations not to rely solely on cloud providers for data encryption and to take advantage of advanced encryption features offered by cloud providers and leading SaaS vendors through a shared responsibility model.