More specifically, are we seeing companies breached due to their (obvious?) security flaws, hackers getting better at what they do, or a combination of both?
What is the future of security for these large companies that we put our trust into that our data is safe?
The reality is: security is often non-existent in larger corporations. It’s all about optics and insurance. Hardly any project I’ve been involved with actually did something for security. It’s a cobbled together mess with just enough security theater to not be legally liable. That’s it.
Case in point: I know of a database that holds data for pretty much all adult persons in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and some people from surrounding countries. The root password contains the company’s name and the year the DB was initially set up.
Most of the time it’s not even nefarious, I can tell you’ve worked big corpos. There just are too many intertwined things and no one overseeing the whole system. Every large company probably has hundreds of security flaws, but no one can see the giant entrance sign to the forest when all they can see are trees
Well, I would say it absolutely is possible, but it costs money directly, up front and in an accountable manner. Security incidents vanish in the fog of responsibility diffusion and nobody specifically can be blamed. That means for each individual responsible party, it is the rational choice to do just enough not to be blamed, pull off theater to seem engaged, but avoid anything that would actually cost money.
So, you’re kind of right, but for the wrong reasons. It’s a systemic issue, that almost inevitably happens in large organizations, but at the root is not inherent complexity, but a perverse incentive structure.
This is the truth ^