Data Breaches to Affect Nearly 1 Billion Consumer Accounts Worldwide

Some 900 million consumer accounts will be impacted in 2014 and 2015 alone by data breaches, with some consumers affected more than once, according to “Digital Trust in the IoT Era”, a survey by IT and outsourcing company Accenture.

In 2014-2015, researchers estimate the number of data breaches will more than double compared to the previous two years. Since the beginning of 2014, data breaches have affected more than 550 million consumer accounts. Data breaches have risen eight-fold in the past decade.

Expected growth in connected devices and increasing data traffic is preceded by a dramatic rise in security breaches. Although data breaches have been occurring for many years, their volume and severity continue to increase, authors of the study say. Growing media coverage, combined with financial and even political implications, have intensified security concerns. Due to heightened public awareness, executives and consumers are more anxious about escalating security threats.

The 2015 Accenture Digital Consumer Survey shows that, by 2020, nearly half of consumers will own a connected IoT device, with strongest demand for home cameras and security, smartwatches and fitness devices. As a result, the volume of data traffic across the network is set to explode. Devices such as Bitdefender Box are designed to scan home networks with connected devices and to provide real-time information, as a Time magazine review says.

According to Cisco, annual Global Internet Protocol (IP) traffic will reach 1.6 zettabytes by 2018, an increase of almost 300 percent compared to 2013. Projected annual IP traffic in 2018 will exceed all IP traffic been generated globally from 1984-2013. The data shows that the majority of the traffic will originate on devices other than PCs and that wireless traffic will exceed wired traffic. By 2018, 57 percent of IP traffic will come from devices other than PCs.

The Accenture Digital Consumer Survey was conducted online between October and November 2014, with 24,000 consumers in 24 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the UK and the US.