Data Breaches Up 20% in 2023, End-to-End Encryption Needed, Says Apple-Backed Study

The study argues for wider use of end-to-end encryption as a solution to the increasing frequency of data breaches, despite ongoing debates with government officials over access to encrypted data.

Data breaches have increased by 20% in the first nine months of 2023 compared to the full year of 2022, according to a study commissioned by Apple and conducted by MIT Professor Stuart E. Madnick.
The study argues that due to the frequency of breaches, the only feasible way to protect consumer data is through wider use of end-to-end encryption.
End-to-end encryption makes it impossible for the company storing the data or any potential hackers to unscramble a user's data without additional information, such as the user's personal device passcode.
Despite this, the use of end-to-end encryption has been a point of contention between technologists and government officials, with Britain considering a law mandating access to private messages.
The study found that 98% of organizations have a relationship with at least one technology vendor that experienced a data breach in the previous two years.