Data Leak Dynamics: From Understanding Causes to Preventive Best Practices and Real-World Cases

Published on: December 31, 2023

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13 min read

There is seldom a day that passes that a breach of sensitive data does not make news. Data leakage, sometimes referred to as low and sluggish data theft, is a major issue for data security that may seriously harm any size or kind of company. Any firm would wish to defend itself against this threat since it can result in devastating litigation, enormous financial fines, ruined reputations, or falling income.

In this article, we will discuss the following topics related to data leakage:

• What is Data Leakage?
• What happens to leaked data?
• What are the types of Data Leakage?
• What types of Data at Risk?
• What causes Data Leaks?
• How can I determine if there has been a data leak?
• What precautions should be taken?
• What are the best practices to reduce data leaks and prevent data leaks?
• Popular Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Tools for Data Leak
• Data Leak vs. Data Breach: Key Differences
• Data Leak vs. Data Exfiltration: Key Differences
• How serious are data leaks?
• What can we learn from past Data Leakage cases?

What is Data Leakage?

Data leakage, also known as information leakage, is the unapproved transfer of data from an organization's internal network to an external network. Electronic data, which can be sent over the internet, and physical data, which may be kept on USB sticks or hard drives, are the two types of data that are commonly referred to as data leaks. One of the most crucial cybersecurity factors that companies should take into account when creating their cybersecurity posture is data leakage since it results in significant data theft, harm to profits and reputation, and even legal repercussions.

The first step in properly anticipating and creating a defense against data leakage is to obtain knowledge of it. If data leakage is not handled, it may become harmful. Your firm might be severely harmed by a serious hack if more of your confidential data is disclosed.

If the leaked data becomes public, it might negatively impact your company's operations, even if it doesn't result in a hack. It might reveal underdeveloped goods or services that aren't yet ready for the general market, providing rivals with an unpleasant advantage.

Since data has been generated, purchased, sold, and stolen at a higher rate than in the past ten years, it is officially the most valuable money available. As such, executives, decision-makers, and staff members in your company should place a high premium on maintaining the security of your data.

What happens to leaked data?

After a data breach, it's critical to keep an eye out for strange behavior on your personal accounts. Cybercriminals and scammers will exploit pilfered personal data to target individuals in whatever manner possible, such as:

• Phishing calls and emails
• social media posts and SMS messages.

Identity theft and fraud result from a data breach that exposes your personal information. Serious repercussions from this might include mental distress and monetary loss.

What are the Types of Data Leakage?

There are numerous distinct forms of data leakage, and it's critical to realize that both internal and external sources may be the cause of the issue. All aspects must be covered by protective measures in order to guarantee that the most frequent risks of data leakage are avoided.

1. The Unintentional Violation: The term "unauthorized" data leakage may not always imply malevolent or purposeful behavior. The good news is that most occurrences involving data leaks are unintentional. For example, while sending an email with sensitive information, an employee can inadvertently choose the incorrect recipient. Regrettably, accidental data leaks do not absolve legal duties; thus, they may still incur the same fines and harm to one's image.

2. The Disgruntled or Malicious Worker: When we consider data leaks, we often consider information stored on lost or stolen laptops or information disclosed over email. Nevertheless, the great majority of data loss happens through non-electronic means, such as printers, cameras, photocopiers, detachable USB drives, and even garbage diving for forgotten paperwork. Even if an employee may have signed an employment contract that essentially represents a trust between the employer and employee, if they are subsequently dissatisfied or receive a big reward from hackers, there is nothing stopping them from later leaking secret information out of the building. A common term for this kind of data loss is "data exfiltration".

3. Cybercommunications with a malevolent intent: As part of their job duties, many companies provide their staff members access to the internet, email, and instant messaging. The issue is that these media can all share files and access external sources via the internet. These media are frequently the target of malware, which has a high success rate. For instance, it would be quite simple for a cybercriminal to impersonate a reputable company email account and ask to get critical data. Unknowingly sending the information, which can include sensitive price information or financial data, is what the user would do.

What Types of Data are at Risk?

Cybercriminals search for valuable information. On the dark web, sensitive and secret information is usually traded. Frequently discovered data types in data leaks are as follows:

• Personally Identifiable Information: Information or documents that make it possible to identify or locate a person are known as personally identifiable information, or PII. Social Security numbers, phone numbers, physical locations, email addresses, and names are examples of common PII. Cybercriminals use PIIs to commit fraud, identity theft, and other frauds. PII is frequently exposed in data breaches.
• Financial data: Financial data is any information pertaining to an individual's banking or finances, including credit card numbers, tax returns, bank records and statements, invoices, and receipts.
• Account credentials: Account credentials are the usernames, passwords, and email addresses needed to access a user's account. Because compromised credentials make it possible for cybercriminals to carry out data breaches and social account takeovers (ATOs), they are highly sought-after commodities.
• Medical information: Any personal information that can reveal a patient's physical or mental state is considered medical information. Healthcare practitioners are usually the ones who produce and maintain medical information.
• Corporate data: Company, federal, or business information is internal data that is developed and maintained by a government agency or corporation and is not accessible to the general public. Crucial corporate data, including internal communications, classified records, performance indicators, meeting minutes, HR records, and company roadmaps, is usually included.
• Intellectual property: Intellectual property (IP) and trade secrets are extremely private and closely guarded data that can jeopardize a business's survival. Examples include testing materials, patents, plans, classified research, documentation for abandoned or unfinished products, designs for future projects, source code for proprietary software and technology, and critical company data.

What Causes Data Leaks?

Internal issues are the source of data leaks. They are not often the result of a cyberattack. For enterprises, this is good news since it means they can catch data leaks early and fix them before thieves can. Let's go over a few of the most typical reasons why data breaches occur:

• Poor infrastructure: Data may inadvertently be exposed by improperly configured or unpatched infrastructure. Although they may appear benign, having incorrect settings or permissions or using an out-of-date software version may expose data. Businesses need to make sure that every piece of infrastructure is properly set up to safeguard data.
• Scams, including social engineering: Although cyberattacks are the cause of data breaches, thieves frequently employ comparable techniques to release sensitive information. After that, the criminal will use the data release as cover for other intrusions. Phishing emails have the potential to effectively get an individual's login credentials, therefore leading to more significant data leaks.
• Bad password policies: Since it's easier to remember, people frequently use the same password for several accounts. But it might expose several accounts in the event of a credential-stuffing assault. A data leak might result from anything as basic as having login information scribbled down on a notepad.
• Lost devices: It is considered a possible data breach if an employee misplaces a device containing sensitive corporate data. Identity theft or a data breach may result from a criminal gaining access to the device's content.
• Software flaws: Software flaws have the potential to quickly become a major cybersecurity problem for businesses. Cybercriminals may be able to leverage zero-day exploits or out-of-date software to create a range of security risks.
• Old data: Organizations may lose track of data as they expand and as staff leave. Any modifications to the infrastructure or system updates may unintentionally reveal that outdated data.

An excellent environment for a data leak is created by outdated data storage methods. When there is personnel turnover in the information security field, this might get worse. Inadequate institutional understanding of antiquated data systems might result in mishaps and weaknesses. Systems for cybersecurity must make sure that data leaks are avoided. Data breaches make it simple for criminals to commit new crimes.

How can I determine if there has been a data leak?

There are several methods you may try to determine if your information has been compromised. They consist of, but are not restricted to:

• Direct communication from the accountable entity: If your personal information is lost due to a data breach, the organization is legally obligated to notify you. Usually, an email or letter will be used for this.

  Basic information regarding the breach, including how it happened, what kind of data could have been stolen, and what steps have already been taken to mitigate the security risk, is frequently included in the communication.

  It's important to keep in mind that, in the event of a data breach, organizations frequently post formal announcements on their website, which might serve as proof that your data was exposed.

  There are no set rules for how long it should take to find out if you have been the victim of a data breach; however, the ICO advises that those who have been impacted by a data breach must be notified "without undue delay."

• Information Commissioner's Office notification (ICO): Regretfully, our experience indicates that organizations that are accountable for a data breach do not always fulfill their duty to notify the impacted parties. Frequently, victims discover a data breach only after reading an ICO declaration. Penalties for data leakes are to be issued by the ICO to the culpable organizations.

It's critical to take immediate action if you discover that an organization has been fined for a data breach and you have reason to believe that they may have your personal information. For further information, get in touch with the organization immediately. If you're still unclear about your rights, see one of our knowledgeable data breach attorneys.

• Third Party tools: If you are unclear whether or not a data breach has exposed your data, you can utilize a variety of third-party solutions. The website haveibeenpwned, which has a database of leaked information, is an excellent example. Any personal information that has been made public online is included in the site's content. If you think that an organization has committed a security lapse, this can confirm if your data has been compromised.
• Personal observation: Naturally, it should go without saying that keeping an eye on your accounts at all times is crucial. If you already have a suspicion that you may have been a victim of a data breach, you should be aware of any phishing attempts or unusual activity on your accounts, since these might be signs that your personal data has been exposed.

What are the best practices to reduce data leaks and prevent data leaks?

The following data security procedures might reduce the likelihood of data breaches and stop data leaks.

• Assess the Risk of External Parties: Regretfully, it's possible that your suppliers don't value cybersecurity as highly as you do. It's crucial to continuously assess each vendor's security posture to make sure there is no chance of data leakage due to serious security flaws.

  A popular technique for determining third-party security risks and guaranteeing adherence to legal requirements like HIPAA, PCI-DSS, or GDPR is vendor risk assessment. Risk questionnaires are created from scratch for unique security inquiries or assembled from templates based on pre-existing frameworks.

  Keeping up with the risk management requirements of a fast-growing third-party network is a challenge for security teams. Vendor risk management is readily expanded as a managed service to avoid vendor risks that are disregarded while scaling cloud data and cloud storage.

• Keep an eye on every network connection: It is more likely to detect suspicious activities when more business network traffic is being watched. Cybercriminals typically launch reconnaissance efforts before launching a cyberattack because they need to pinpoint the precise protections that will need to be breached. By identifying and strengthening security flaws, data leak prevention technologies enable enterprises to thwart potential spying efforts.

  To guarantee privileged access to extremely sensitive data, information security policies might need to be updated.

• Determine All of the Sensitive Data: When considering how to improve their data leak protection tactics, firms should prioritize data loss protection (DLP). Businesses must identify any sensitive data that needs to be safeguarded before implementing DLP procedures. Next, this material must be appropriately categorized in accordance with stringent security guidelines.

  Financial data, various sensitive data types, and protective health information are examples of data classification categories.

  For any data category, a firm may customize the most effective data leak prevention protections with accurate, sensitive data detection and categorization.

• Protect Every Endpoint: Any remote access point that may, independently or through end users, connect to a company network is called an endpoint. This covers mobile devices, desktop computers, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

  Since the majority of businesses today use some kind of remote working model, endpoints are more widely distributed, sometimes even across international borders, which makes them more difficult to safeguard. Businesses need to include cloud-based endpoint security in their scope of coverage.

  When using an iPhone to access company networks, employees should make sure they take advantage of the Security Recommendations feature, which tells them whether any of their stored credentials have been exposed to a data breach.

  Although they provide a foundational level of endpoint protection, firewalls and VPNs are insufficient on their own. In order to get beyond these security measures, employees are frequently misled into inserting malware into an environment.

  Employers must teach their employees to spot cybercriminals' deceit, especially with regard to email phishing and social engineering scams. One really effective way to stop data leaks is through education. One essential element of data loss prevention (DLP) is endpoint security.

• Put Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Software into Practice: Data leak prevention needs to be a fundamental part of data loss prevention (DLP), an all-encompassing data protection approach. Technology and procedures work together in an efficient DLP system to prevent sensitive data from being misplaced, exploited, or accessed by unauthorized parties.

• Encrypt Every Bit of Information: Data encryption makes it more difficult for cybercriminals to take advantage of data spills. Public-key encryption and symmetric-key encryption are the two primary types of data encryption.

  Even though novice hackers might be unable to decipher encrypted data, skilled cybercriminals might still do so without a decryption key. Because of this, data encryption needs to be utilized in conjunction with every strategy on this list to avoid data leaks, rather than being the only one.

• Review Every Permission: Right now, anyone who shouldn't be able to access it might access your private information. All permissions should be examined as a first step to make sure that only authorized parties are getting access.

  After this has been confirmed, all important data ought to be divided into many sensitivity categories in order to manage access to various data sets. Highly sensitive information should only be accessible to reliable employees who meet all necessary qualifications.

  The procedure of assigning privileged access has the potential to detect malevolent insiders who are engaged in the exfiltration of confidential data.

• Check Each Vendor's Security Posture: Risk assessments sent to suppliers will encourage them to step up their cybersecurity efforts, but remedial efforts cannot be verified in the absence of a monitoring system. An extremely effective method of assessing a vendor's vulnerability to data breaches is a security score. With the help of these monitoring tools, businesses can instantly see the state of their whole vendor network and the security rating of each vendor inside the third-party network.

Popoular Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Tools for Data Leak

Data loss prevention technologies are by far the most popular security tactic used to protect sensitive information and stop data breaches. DLP tools continuously scan and evaluate data in order to spot any security policy infractions and, when necessary, put an end to them. DLP solutions come in a variety of forms, from those that concentrate on a particular area of a business, like laptops or email services, to those that are specifically designed for data backup, archiving, and restoration.

The best DLP solutions are listed below:

1. Symantec DLP
2. McAfee DLP Endpoint
3. SecureTrust Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
4. Forcepoint DLP
5. Sophos
6. Safetica
7. Proofpoint
8. Google Cloud Data Loss Prevention
9. Endpoint Pr by CoSoSys
10. Microsoft Purview DLP
11. Open DLP
12. MyDLP

Data Leak vs. Data Breach: Key Differences

It's critical to understand the differences between data breaches and leaks. Although both phrases are frequently used synonymously, there is one important distinction between them.

Although unauthorized data exposure is a common component of both data breaches and leaks, the source of the exposure defines the classification of the exposure as either one.

When information is revealed via an inside source, it's called a data leak. On the other hand, a data breach results from a cyberattack by an outside party breaking into the system. There are several ways for criminals to attempt to breach a network. Put differently, a data breach is typically hostile and purposeful, but a data leak is typically the result of an accident.

The distinction between a leak and a breach can occasionally be hazy since thieves exploit information from one to initiate a significant data breach. Consider the case of an email password breach. A thief might use a hacked email account to carry out ransomware attacks or invoice fraud, among other corporate email compromise schemes.

It just takes a single data leak for thieves to create a significant data breach. Organizations face a grave risk from leaks just as much as from data breaches. Organizations should thus be aware of the factors that lead to data breaches and how to stop them.

Data Leak vs. Data Exfiltration: Key Differences

Data leakage is the unintentional release of personal information to other parties. It might be brought on by improperly set up databases, mistakes in access restrictions, insider data processing that is not secure, or linked third-party vendors who store data incorrectly. On the other hand, data exfiltration is the unlawful sending of private data to other parties over a company's network. Cybercriminals launch this deliberate, targeted assault with the goal of stealing and making money off of stolen data via extortion or theft.

How Serious are Data Leaks?

Data leaks have a number of consequences, such as:

• Privacy breach, which includes identity theft.
• Harm the reputation of the brand
• Result in lost business.
• Injure and contaminate databases.
• Consequences for compliance and law

First of all, sensitive personal information, like social security numbers, credit card details, and confidential health information of clients, may be lost as a result of data leaks.

Consequently, as was the case with the Aadhaar data leak, the victims may lose their privacy. Additionally, if a cyber attacker is successful in accessing their bank data or coercing them into paying a charge, they may suffer financial damages.

The impacted brands' reputational harm comes next.

When completing online forms on affiliated websites, customers entrust businesses with their personal information. As a result, an incident involving data leaks may leave them with terrible taste.

Customers may retaliate by spreading negative rumors about the struggling companies, such as that they don't take enough security precautions. Worst-case, these circumstances may cause a significant exodus of clients.

Ultimately, legal action, severe financial penalties, and issues with compliance might result from a data breach.

Customers have the right to sue a business for carelessness as well as for losses brought on by data leaks. ICO (the UK's Information Commissioner's Office) penalties of 18.4 million pound and 20 million pound for data leaks on Marriott International and British Airways are two notable examples.

As a result, a company needs to take the danger of data leaks seriously. Ignoring it might have negative financial effects on the organization or, worse, cause it to fail.

What can we learn from past Data Leakage Cases?

Even if they are regrettable, data breaches may teach important lessons. Here are a few things to remember:

• Review your security measures on a regular basis: Make sure to enhance and examine your security procedures in light of the intrusion.
• Put in place a breach response strategy: Now is the perfect moment to draft a thorough reaction strategy, if you don't already have one. If you did have one, evaluate its performance and make the required adjustments.
• Recall that data breaches are a business risk that may impact all facets of an organization, not just IT problems. Whatever your position, being aware of data breaches and knowing how to handle them will help you become a more knowledgeable, competent, and useful team member.

What are the most known data leakage cases?

A growing number of businesses have experienced data security breaches. Among the most well-known instances of data leaks are the following:

• Twitter: It has been alleged that 130 well-known Twitter accounts were hacked on July 15, 2020, between 20:00 and 22:00 UTC, by outside actors in order to spread a bitcoin hoax. The culprits were able to change the accounts themselves and post the tweets directly since they had access to Twitter's administration tools, as verified by Twitter and other media outlets. It seemed like they employed social engineering to get the tools through Twitter staff members. On July 31, 2020, police detained three people and accused them of identity theft, wire fraud, money laundering, and illegal computer access in connection with the scheme.

• T-Mobile: T-Mobile informed its clientele in August 2021 that it had experienced a cyberattack resulting in a data leak. After the incident was investigated, it was discovered that the breach had allowed access to the data of over 76.6 million active and past clients.

  Names, residences, phone numbers, dates of birth, and International Mobile Equipment Identity and International Mobile Subscriber Identity numbers of the consumers were among the data that could be accessed. Sensitive information belonging to certain users was also exposed, including their PINs for T-Mobile accounts, social security numbers, and information from driver's licenses and IDs. T-Mobile notified everyone impacted and changed the PINs on the accounts that were compromised during the incident.

• Capital One: In March 2019, a hacker gained access to the personal data of over 106 million Capital One customers and applicants in one of the worst financial security breaches in US history. For four months, the huge hack remained undetected.

  According to Capital One, birth dates, residences, phone numbers, credit balances, transactions, and credit ratings were among the information exposed, along with about 140,000 Social Security numbers and 80,000 US bank account numbers. One million Canadian credit card applicants and customers had their Social Insurance Numbers exposed, but no credit card account numbers or login credentials were taken, the bank said.

• Facebook: It was discovered in April 2019 that two Facebook app datasets had been made public online. Phone numbers, account names, and Facebook IDs were among the details pertaining to over 530 million Facebook members. But the information was made publicly available for free two years later (in April 2021), suggesting that there was actual criminal intent at play. In fact, security researcher Troy Hunt added functionality to his HaveIBeenPwned (HIBP) breached credential checking site that would allow users to check if their phone numbers had been included in the exposed dataset, given the sheer volume of phone numbers affected by the incident and easily available on the dark web.

  In a blog post, Hunt stated, "I'd never planned to make phone numbers searchable." " In my opinion, there were several reasons why this didn't make sense. All that was modified by the Facebook data. Since there are more than 500 million phone numbers but only a small number of email addresses, more than 99% of people received a miss when they ought to have received a hit.

• Linkedin: In June 2021, professional networking company LinkedIn discovered that 700 million of its members' data had been exposed on a dark web forum, affecting almost 90% of its user base. Under abusing the site's (and others') API, a hacker going under the handle "God User" employed data scraping tactics before leaking the first information data set of almost 500 million consumers. They boasted that they were selling the entire 700 million-client database after that. LinkedIn contended that the event was a breach of its terms of service rather than a data breach, a scraped data sample released by God because no sensitive, private personal data was revealed. As the UK's NCSC warned, the user had information such as email addresses, phone numbers, genders, geolocation records, and other social network details, which would provide bad actors with enough material to create convincing, follow-on social engineering attacks following the breach.

• Equifax: One of the three biggest consumer credit reporting companies in the US, Equifax, said in September 2017 that 148 million Americans' private information had been stolen due to a breach in its systems. Names, home addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, social security numbers, and driver's license numbers were among the information that was compromised. Due to this data breach, the credit card details of almost 209,000 customers were also made public. This is one of the biggest data breaches to date and an unprecedented one due to the sensitivity of the information that Equifax processes.

• Dropbox: A Dropbox data breach occurred in the middle of 2012, exposing 68 million records containing salted hashes of passwords (half bcrypt, half SHA1) and email addresses.