**Podcast Episode Summary: Off the Wire - Cybersecurity Insights from the Verizon 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report**

**Hosts:** Anthony Kent and Tanner Greer

**Episode Overview:**
In this episode of Off the Wire, hosts Anthony Kent and Tanner Greer dive deep into the Verizon 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR). With their combined 35 years of experience in the IT industry, they provide valuable insights into the latest trends and findings in cybersecurity.

**Key Topics Discussed:**

1. **History and Importance of the DBIR:**
- The DBIR, introduced by Verizon in 2008, has become a cornerstone report in the cybersecurity industry, analyzing thousands of real-world security incidents annually.
- This year’s report analyzed 30,458 security incidents and 10,626 confirmed data breaches across 94 countries.

2. **Ransomware and Extortion:**
- Ransomware and extortion account for 32% of all breaches. While ransomware attacks declined by 23%, extortion incidents rose by 9%.

3. **Human Element in Breaches:**
- Human errors continue to play a significant role, with 68% of breaches involving a human element such as social engineering or misuse of privileges.
- Financial costs of breaches vary widely, with the average cost in the 95th percentile being $46,000.

4. **Vulnerability Exploitation:**
- Exploitation of vulnerabilities increased by 180% over the previous year, highlighting the importance of minimizing internet attack surfaces.

5. **Attack Vectors:**
- The most common attack vectors include web application credentials, phishing emails, and web application vulnerabilities.

6. **Denial of Service Attacks:**
- 50% of incidents involved denial of service (DoS) attacks, which are relatively easy to deploy and often highly successful.

7. **Lost and Stolen Assets:**
- Laptops are the most likely assets to go missing, with lost assets more likely to result in data breaches than in previous years.

8. **Privilege Misuse:**
- Privilege misuse, mainly by internal actors, remains a steady threat, with personal and banking data being the most targeted.

9. **Artificial Intelligence:**
- Despite the hype, AI’s role in cyberattacks is minimal, though there is some concern about its potential use in social engineering and deep fakes.

**Mitigation Strategies:**
- Stick to cybersecurity fundamentals like updating and patching systems.
- Leverage multifactor authentication and employee training.
- Implement device hardening and least access policies.
- Follow the CIS controls referenced in the DBIR to strengthen cybersecurity frameworks.

**Call to Action:**
- Subscribe to Off the Wire on your favorite podcast platform for more cybersecurity and technology insights.
- Visit their new website, offthewirepodcast.com, and follow them on social media (YouTube, X, Facebook, LinkedIn).
- Download the full Verizon 2024 DBIR at verizon.com/DBIR.

**Upcoming Episodes:**
- Off the Wire will release new episodes every other Monday before 8 AM, perfect for your commute.