During my 34-year career in federal law enforcement, I repeatedly saw the damage data theft caused to unsuspecting victims. Whether the result was an elderly retiree losing their life savings, a company losing its intellectual property, or the military losing technology that took years to research and billions of dollars to fund.

Illustration by jcomp On Sept. 15, Uber Technologies Inc. was breached by an 18-year-old. The hacker purchased an employee’s stolen credentials from the dark web and pushed a flood of multi-factor authentication (MFA) requests and fake IT messages to them in hopes of getting into their account. Irritated by the non-stop pop-ups, the employee caved in and approved the request, unwittingly setting off a cyberattack.

It was the worst-case scenario for Uber, the popular ride-sharing app, when the company suffered a major data breach in early September. While the extent of the damage, and the data potentially stolen, is still being uncovered, the attack — and the methods used to execute it — can be examined and used to teach other organizations what (and what not) to do.

Imagine a burglar. They’ve spent large amounts of time researching their target — your house. They’ve perfected their infiltration techniques, found your weak points, learned your schedule, and know the best time to strike. They’ve shown up when you least expect it and jimmied open the lock on the back door. And now, rather than head inside and steal your valuables, they hold the door open for someone else.

The technology industry has unlocked innovation across all sectors as an enabler of digital transformation. Most organizations are now outsourcing critical operations to tech companies, such as cloud providers. Tech vendors are now left to manage an ever-growing volume of sensitive data, which they must secure effectively to prevent large-scale data breaches. IBM and Ponemon Institute’s 2022 Cost of a Data Breach Report found a record high average breach cost of US$4.35 million.

The financial industry is no stranger to data breaches. Financial institutions have access to millions of personally identifiable information (PII) records, which they must secure to the highest standard. The value of this data is open knowledge – hackers will actively search for existing cybersecurity weaknesses to gain unauthorized access to customers’ financial information.

In an increasingly digital world, cybersecurity is a significant – and relevant – threat to individuals and companies alike. Cybercriminals are constantly devising new ways to steal information for personal gain through exploitation or ransom demands. It’s become unfortunately commonplace to hear tales of drained checking accounts, leaked photos, and private documents being published to the masses.

A security breach is when an incident occurs that results in unauthorized access to sensitive data, applications, networks or devices. Typically, when a security breach happens the intruder is able to bypass security measures that were put in place to keep them out. As a result of a security breach, a company or organization’s public image suffers, which can lead to the company losing money. The company or organization could also suffer legal consequences.

Third-party breaches have become a common phenomenon in the modern cyber threat landscape. In 2021, the Ponemon Insitute estimated that 51% of organizations were impacted by third-party breaches. The 2022 report found that data breach damage costs associated with third-party vulnerabilities rose from US$ 4.33 million in 2021 to US$ 4.55 million in 2022.