2011 Set to Be Worst Year Ever for Security Breaches

Sony, the data-security firm RSA, Lockheed Martin, the email wholesaler Epsilon, the Fox broadcast network, NASA, PBS, the European Space Agency, the FBI, the British and French treasuries — and, just this morning, the banking and insurance giant Citigroup. What do all these organizations have in common?

Along with dozens of other companies and government agencies, they were victims of massive network security breaches in the first six months of this year.

"In the last 10 years, I don't think we've seen breaches that have affected consumers at this scale," said Ondrej Krehel, information security officer for Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Identity Theft 911. "It's been the worst year in a decade."

Tim Armstrong, malware researcher for the Russian security firm Kaspersky Lab, agreed.

"It's only June," Armstrong said, "but it has already [been an] impressive year for breaches."
Sony, RSA and Epsilon usher in the season

The worst three cybersecurity incidents of the year so far have involved RSA, Epsilon and Sony.

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