Apple urges governments not to weaken security as it says billions of personal records stolen in data breaches

Encryption keeps messages and other important information safe as it moves across the internet – but has led to controversy with some governments

(Getty Images)

Apple has governments and others to keep the internet secure with encryption as it reveals the huge scope of data breaches in recent years.

The total number of data breaches has more than tripled over the last ten years, the company said, with 2.6 billion personal records stolen in the last two years.

That is according to a new study, commissioned and promoted by Apple, titled ‘The Continued Threat to Personal Data: Key Factors Behind the 2023 Increase’.

That report notes that many companies have responded to this increased amount of data breaches by increasing their use of encryption, which scrambles messages to ensure they cannot be read as they make their way across the internet. Apple introduced new encryption tools last year, with the introduction of Advanced Data Protection for iCloud, which encrypts people’s personal information as it is backed up.

But encryption has also proven controversial in recent years. The additional security also makes it more difficult for intelligence agencies and law enforcement to read messages that might contain details of crimes – which has led to criticism from some governments.

Apple said however that the new report highlighted the importance of that technology, and pledged to introduce “even more powerful protections” as the threats continue to grow.

“Bad actors continue to pour enormous amounts of time and resources into finding more creative and effective ways to steal consumer data, and we won’t rest in our efforts to stop them,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s software head. “As threats to consumer data grow, we’ll keep finding ways to fight back on behalf of our users by adding even more powerful protections.”

Much of the increase was the result of increased targeting of people’s data by ransomware gangs and co-ordinated campaigns, the Apple-commissioned report said. Ransomware attacks see hackers steal personal data or access to devices and force victims to pay to get it back.

There were almost 70 per cent more of those attacks in the first nine months of this year than there were in the whole of last year, the report found.