Apple-backed study finds rise in data breaches as iPhone mak...

(Reuters) - In the first nine months of 2023, U.S. data breaches increased by 20% compared to the full year 2022, according to a new study that was commissioned by Apple. The iPhone maker paid for the study, which was conducted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Stuart E. Madnick, about a year after it rolled out a new feature to expand end-to-end encryption for data stored in its iCloud service. The study, which does not include any findings of data breaches at Apple itself, argues that breaches are becoming so commonplace that the only feasible way to protect consumer data is wider use of end-to-end encryption. Such encryption makes it impossible for the company that stores the data - or anyone who might hack its servers - to unscramble a user's data without also possessing additional information, such as the passcode for one of the user's personal devices. But that e...