Marking out the current status of Data Breach scenario in California, attorney general, Kamala D. Harris has released a report noting that the frequency is far from getting over anytime soon.

“We are increasingly adopting technology that is putting our data in systems that are ripe for penetration,” Ms. Harris points out.

She further added, “We have not sufficiently inoculated ourselves. The bad guys have figured out where the vulnerabilities are and learned there is much to be profited and gained from exploiting them,” reports NY Times.

Statistics show that an increase of 28 percent rise from 2012’s 131 data breaches to 2013’s 161, in California. The information of more than 18.5 million California residents was compromised in 2013, a significant jump from the 2.5 million compromised records in 2012. The Target breach compromised 41 million people’s personal data while LivingSocial numbers go up to 50 million. According to the attorney general, each of these two breaches put 7.5 million California residents’ information at risk, reports NYT.

Of the total breaches suffered last year, 53 percent had involved malware and hacking, while 26 percent, was attributed to the physical loss of a computer or device.

The retail industry was the most hard hit and more so in the last 10 months with 15.4 million records in the breach belonging to California residents — 84 percent of total records compromised. The report suggested speedy encryption of customers’ personal, medical and payment card data by retailers and companies that handle personal or payment card information.

“I think we are at an inflection point,” Ms. Harris urged. “We’re starting to see that this technology that allows us to collect and keep information can be helpful, but it’s also very valuable to predators. Now, we have to protect it.”

Read more here.

(Image credit: Alexandre Dulaunoy)