Security News > 2021 > January > Attacks on Individuals Fall as Cybercrime Shifts Tactics
Cybercriminals shifted away from stealing individual consumers' information in 2020 to focus on bigger, more profitable attacks on businesses, according to a report from the Identity Theft Resource Center.
Ransomware and phishing attacks are now the preferred form of data theft because they require less effort and generate bigger payouts.
The ITRC said that one ransomware attack can generate as much revenue in minutes as hundreds of individual identity theft attempts over months or years.
According to the ITRC report released Thursday, even with the decline, there were still 300.5 million individuals impacted by data breaches in 2020.
"People should understand that this problem is not going away," said Eva Velasquez, ITRC's president and CEO. "Cybercriminals are simply shifting their tactics to find a new way to attack businesses and consumers."
One rising trend is attacks on third parties, such as a vendor, that would yield access to multiple organizations through a single attack.