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Unit 42: Nearly Two-Thirds of Breaches Now Start with Identity Abuse

Unit 42’s annual incident‑response report reveals identity abuse now initiates roughly two‑thirds of network intrusions, with social engineering responsible for one‑third of the 750 incidents examined. Compromised credentials, brute‑force attacks and permissive identity policies further fuel the trend, while identity‑related factors appear in nearly 90% of breaches. The report also notes a sharp rise in ransomware payouts, with median payments up 87% to $500,000, and faster data exfiltration, often completed within an hour. These findings underscore persistent gaps in identity governance across cloud, SaaS and legacy environments.