The 2020 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report opens with an Oscar Wilde quote from "The Picture of Dorian Gray": "Experience is merely the name men give to their mistakes." In other words, live and learn. But in recent years, cyber risk and information security experts have aspired to get away from reactive cybersecurity measures in favor of mitigation efforts that block digital threats before they become problematic. Knowing the tactics and actors behind headline-making data breaches is the first step toward thwarting such incidents, particularly this year, as entire industries moved their business online and their staff to remote locations during the COVID-19 pandemic. "A lot of people ended up sending workers to work from home without really thinking through what were some of the security elements in the future," Verizon Business Group CEO Tami Erwin told Reuters. "I think employees working from home are probably more vulnerable to attacks." She suggested that businesses insulate themselves from fresh cyberattacks by educating employees about data security trends and threats. Researchers behind the 2020 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, which is the 13th annual installment of this esteemed study of digital threats, examined 3,950 cybersecurity breaches and 157,525 data security incidents worldwide to compile their findings. The difference between a breach and incident is that the former involves the loss of assets while the latter is less severe but does involve a compromised system. The slideshow above reveals 10 takeaways for risk managers and insurance pros from the 2020 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report. Related: |

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