Credit unions and banks with less than $35 million accounted for 81% of hacking and malware breaches at financial institutions in 2016, a 54% increase over industry incidents in 2015.

New York City-based data breach response insurance firm Beazley in its "Beazley Breach Insights – July 2016" findings noted a sharp increase in hacking and malware attacks on financial institutions in the first six months of 2016, particularly those aimed at small banks and credit unions. The study, based on its response to client data breaches in the first six months of 2016, also found a consistent level of hacks in the healthcare, higher education and retail sectors compared to 2015.

During the first half of 2016, Beazley Breach Response Services unit managed 955 data breaches on behalf of clients, compared to 611 breaches during the same period last year.  Financial institutions incurred 139 of these breaches, with breaches sparked by hacking and malware attacks being particularly common at institutions with revenues below $35 million.