BBC hacked | With another huge crisis announced, we must ask - why are data breaches so prevalent?

2023 was, it seemed, like the year of the data breach. If you felt like each day yielded another headline of a major hack and a threat to your personal data, you aren’t alone.

According to an Apple-published research paper titled: ‘The Continued Threat to Personal Data: Key Factors Behind the 2023 Increase’, there was a 20% increase in data breaches from 2022 to 2023. And in fact, some of the other numbers from the research are even more disturbing; globally, there were twice the number of victims of such attacks in 2023 compared to 2022.

In the Middle East, ransomware gang activity increased by 77% in that same timeframe.

This week alone, two major breaches were announced. One, confirmed to be affecting the BBC, resulted in the details of more than 25,000 current and former employees being exposed.