In the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity, broken access control has emerged as a silent yet significant threat. This vulnerability occurs when applications fail to enforce proper restrictions on user actions, allowing unauthorized individuals to access resources or perform actions beyond their intended permissions. The 2024 Verizon Business Data Breach Investigations Report highlighted that the human element was a component of 68% of all data breaches, underscoring the critical need for robust access control mechanisms. securityweek.com
Real-world incidents have starkly demonstrated the consequences of broken access control. In 2019, Facebook experienced a breach where attackers exploited a vulnerability to access user accounts without authorization, affecting over 50 million users. Similarly, in 2016, Uber suffered a data breach exposing the personal information of 57 million users and drivers due to unauthorized access to their data storage. coraltechteam.com These examples highlight the critical importance of implementing effective access control measures to safeguard sensitive information.