An overview of Verizon’s 2021 Data Breach Investigation Report: An Overall Summary for Industries, Incident Classification Patterns and SMBs

1. Highlight 1
Breach record: 29,207 Incident Record: 5,258
Highlight 2
Top Pattern in breaches: Social Engineering, Basic
Web Application Attacks, System Intrusion
% of the incidents
investigated in 2021
involved data breaches.
Highlights
18
Highlight 3
85% of breaches involved a human element
Verizon'DBIR
2021
A Deep Look Into Top 5 Industries
Global Overview
North America
1080 Data Breaches
Asia Pasific
1495 Data Breaches
Country
88
EMEA
293 Data Breaches Regions Without Records
Regions Witht Records
Top 5 Industries
17%
Public
Administration
13%
9% 7%
Professional,
Scientific and
Technical Services
Financial and
Insurance
Educational Services
10%
Heathcare
Public Administration
27%
5%
3236 incidents, 885 with confirmed data disclosure in 2021
Top Patterns
Social Engineering,
Miscellaneous Errors
and System Intrusion
show 92 percent of
breaches.
1 2 3 4
Actor Motives
Financial %96
Espionage %4
Threat Actors
External %83
Internal %17
Data Compromised
Credentials %80
Personal %18
Other %6
Medical %4
6843 incidents, 346 with confirmed data disclosure in 2020
Biggest Threat
Top Error is "misconfiguration" in Public Administration breach
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
33%
4%
1892 incidents, 630 with confirmed data disclosure in 2021
Top Patterns
System Intrusion,
Social Engineering
and Basic Web
Application Attacks
represent 81% of
breaches
1 2 3 4
Actor Motives
Financial %97
Espionage %2
Grudge %1
Threat Actors
External %74
Internal %26
Data Compromised
Credentials %63
Personal %49
Other %21
Bank %9
7463 incidents, 326 with confirmed data disclosure in 2020
Biggest Threat
Top Threat is "phishing" in Professional, Scientific and Technical Services breach
Heathcare
72%
65%
655 incidents, 472 with confirmed data disclosure in 2021
Top Patterns
Miscellaneous Errors,
Basic Web Application
Attacks and System
Intrusion show 86
percent of breaches.
1 2 3 4
Actor Motives
Financial %91
Fun %5
Espionage %4
Grudge %1
Threat Actors
External %61
Internal %39
Data Compromised
Personal %66
Medical %55
Credentials %32
Other %20
798 incidents, 521 with confirmed data disclosure in 2020
Biggest Threat
Top Error is "misdelivery" in Professional, Scientific and Technical Services breach
Financial and Insurance
65%
30%
721 incidents, 467 with confirmed data disclosure in 2021
Top Patterns
Miscellaneous Errors,
Basic Web Application
Attacks and Social
Engineering show 81
percent of breaches.
1 2 3 4
Actor Motives
Financial %96
Espionage %3
Grudge %2
Fun %1
Ideology %1
Threat Actors
External %56
Internal %44
Multiple %1
Partner %1
Data Compromised
Personal %83
Bank %33
Credentials %32
Other %21
1509 incidents, 521 with confirmed data disclosure in 2020
Biggest Threat
Top Error is "misdelivery" in Financial and Insurance breach
Educational Services
26%
28%
1332 incidents, 344 with confirmed data disclosure in 2021
Top Patterns
Social Engineering,
Miscellaneous Errors
and System Intrusion
show 86 percent of
breaches.
1 2 3 4
Actor Motives
Financial %96
Espionage %3
Fun %1
Convenience %1
Grudge %1
Threat Actors
External %80
Internal %20
Multiple %1
Data Compromised
Personal %61
Credentials %51
Other %12
Medical %7
819 incidents, 228 with confirmed data disclosure in 2020
Biggest Threat
Top Error is "misconfiguration" in Educational Services breach
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