Atlas VPN: Cybercrime leaked 8.4 billion documents in 2020 Q1. Most of the exposed data came from a single unprotected ElasticSearch server

Cybercrime leaked over 8.4 billion documents during first three months of 2020. It has been denounced by Atlas VPN cyber security experts. According to an investigation, the number of breached records globally surged by 273%, when comparing 2020 Q1 to 2019 Q1. Most of the exposed data came from a single unprotected ElasticSearch server, containing over 5 billion records. The data contained emails and passwords from services such as Adobe, Last.fm, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, VK. From 2013 to 2019, the combined number of breached records in the first quarters is 8,058 million. This year there was a total of 1,196 individual data leaks. Out of these, almost 40% happened in the US. Moreover, in just one year, breaches in the information sector more than doubled, while in the manufacturing increased by 74.19%, and by 70.97% in the health care. Furthermore, 7 in 10 data breaches are caused by insiders.

The cyber security experts: Eleven data breaches exposed more than 100 million records each. Cyber criminal leverage not only account thefts, but also phishing scams to reach their goal

According to the cyber security experts, in 2020 Q1, eleven data breaches exposed more than 100 million records each. Five other cases, between 10 and 99 million sensitive details of users worldwide. Cybercrime furthermore do not only steal accounts, but also carry out advanced phishing scams. Users are more likely to download an attachment if the email comes from a trusted person or an organization. Moreover, the trap can contain links to phishing websites mimicking real ones. Since the message came from a trusted source, users have their guard down and are tricked into giving their sensitive information, including credit card details. Due to the increased cybercriminal activity, as of 2019, the World Economic Forum considers cyber-attacks among the top five risks to global stability.