Study: ‘Hacktivists’ behind more than half of all stolen data

{mosads}Anonymous, a loose collection of hackers, has attacked the websites of the Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission, the CIA and major record labels and movie studios in recent months. They also hacked into global intelligence firm Stratfor and released internal information earlier this year. The group advocates Internet freedom, loose intellectual property rights and other causes.

The Verizon report found that cybercriminals made up a total of 174 million records worldwide last year. The researchers attributed 98 percent of the attacks to external actors and only 4 percent to internal employees.

Although hacktivsts accounted for the most combined data, the researchers said attacks aimed at stealing trade secrets and other classified information were likely more damaging.

Verizon conducted the study in partnership with the Secret Service and law enforcement agencies in Australia, the Netherlands, Ireland and Britain.