The largest reported data leakage as of January 2025 was the Cam4 data breach in March 2020, which exposed more than 10 billion data records. The second-largest data breach in history so far, the Yahoo data breach, occurred in 2013. The company initially reported about one billion exposed data records, but after an investigation, the company updated the number, revealing that three billion accounts were affected. The National Public Data Breach was announced in August 2024. The incident became public when personally identifiable information of individuals became available for sale on the dark web. Overall, the security professionals estimate the leakage of nearly three billion personal records. The next significant data leakage was the March 2018 security breach of India's national ID database, Aadhaar, with over 1.1 billion records exposed. This included biometric information such as identification numbers and fingerprint scans, which could be used to open bank accounts and receive financial aid, among other government services.

Cybercrime - the dark side of digitalization As the world continues its journey into the digital age, corporations and governments across the globe have been increasing their reliance on technology to collect, analyze and store personal data. This, in turn, has led to a rise in the number of cyber crimes, ranging from minor breaches to global-scale attacks impacting billions of users – such as in the case of Yahoo. Within the U.S. alone, 1802 cases of data compromise were reported in 2022. This was a marked increase from the 447 cases reported a decade prior. The high price of data protection As of 2022, the average cost of a single data breach across all industries worldwide stood at around 4.35 million U.S. dollars. This was found to be most costly in the healthcare sector, with each leak reported to have cost the affected party a hefty 10.1 million U.S. dollars. The financial segment followed closely behind. Here, each breach resulted in a loss of approximately 6 million U.S. dollars - 1.5 million more than the global average.

In 2024, the number of data compromises in the United States stood at 3,158 cases. Meanwhile, over 1.35 billion individuals were affected in the same year by data compromises, including data breaches, leakage, and exposure. While these are three different events, they have one thing in common. As a result of all three incidents, the sensitive data is accessed by an unauthorized threat actor. Industries most vulnerable to data breaches Some industry sectors usually see more significant cases of private data violations than others. This is determined by the type and volume of the personal information organizations of these sectors store. In 2024 the financial services, healthcare, and professional services were the three industry sectors that recorded most data breaches. Overall, the number of healthcare data breaches in some industry sectors in the United States has gradually increased within the past few years. However, some sectors saw decrease. Largest data exposures worldwide In 2020, an adult streaming website, CAM4, experienced a leakage of nearly 11 billion records. This, by far, is the most extensive reported data leakage. This case, though, is unique because cyber security researchers found the vulnerability before the cyber criminals. The second-largest data breach is the Yahoo data breach, dating back to 2013. The company first reported about one billion exposed records, then later, in 2017, came up with an updated number of leaked records, which was three billion. In March 2018, the third biggest data breach happened, involving India’s national identification database Aadhaar. As a result of this incident, over 1.1 billion records were exposed.

Between November 2022 and October 2023, organizations in the education sector worldwide saw around 872 instances of data breaches caused by hacking. The professional industry ranked second, with 603 data breach cases in the measured period. Furthermore, hacking caused 598 data breach incidents in the finance sector.

The Cyber Security Breaches Survey, 2022 (CSBS) was run to understand organisations' approaches and attitudes to cyber security, and to understand their experience of cyber security breaches. The aim of the survey was to support the Government by providing evidence that can inform policies which help to make Britain a safer place to do business online. Details of changes for the 2022 survey can be found in the Technical Annex documentation.

These surveys have been conducted annually since 2016 to understand the views of UK organisations on cyber security. Data are collected on topics including online use; attitudes of organisations to cyber security and awareness of Government initiatives; approaches to cyber security (including investment and processes); incidences and impact of a cyber security breach or attack; and how breaches are dealt with by the organisation. This information helps to inform Government policy towards organisations, including how best to target key messages to businesses and charities so that they are cyber secure (and so that the UK is the safest place in the world to do business online). The study is funded by the DCMS as part of the National Cyber Security Programme.

The underlying data are useful for researchers to better understand the response across a range of organisations and for wider comparability over time. The survey originally only covered businesses but was expanded to include charities from the 2018 survey onwards. From 2020, the survey includes a sample of education institutions (primary and secondary schools, further and higher education). Please note that the UK Data Service only holds data from 2018 onwards.

Further information and additional publications can be found on the GOV.UK Cyber Security Breaches Survey, 2022 webpage.

The Cyber Security Breaches Survey, (CSBS) is run to understand organisations' approaches and attitudes to cyber security, and to understand their experience of cyber security breaches.. The aim of the survey is to support the Government by providing evidence that can inform policies which help to make Britain a safer place to do business online.

These surveys have been conducted annually since 2016 to understand the views of UK organisations on cyber security. Data are collected on topics including online use; attitudes of organisations to cyber security and awareness of Government initiatives; approaches to cyber security (including investment and processes); incidences and impact of a cyber security breach or attack; and how breaches are dealt with by the organisation. This information helps to inform Government policy towards organisations, including how best to target key messages to businesses and charities so that they are cyber secure (and so that the UK is the safest place in the world to do business online). The study is funded by the DCMS as part of the government's £2.6 billion National Cyber Strategy 2022 to protect and promote the UK in cyber space.

The underlying data are useful for researchers to better understand the response across a range of organisations and for wider comparability over time. The survey originally only covered businesses but was expanded to include charities from the 2018 survey onwards. From 2020, the survey includes a sample of education institutions (primary and secondary schools, further and higher education). Please note that the UK Data Service only holds datasets on each specific year from 2018 onwards.

Cyber Security Breaches Survey: Combined Dataset, 2016-2022 includes data from 2016 to 2022. This is cross-sectional data only and not all variables are included in all years. For longitudinal data, please access the Cyber Security Longitudinal Survey: Wave 1, 2021 (available from the UK Data Archive under SN 8969) and onwards.

Further information and additional publications can be found on the GOV.UK Cyber Security Breaches Survey webpage.

During the third quarter of 2024, data breaches exposed more than *** million records worldwide. Since the first quarter of 2020, the highest number of data records were exposed in the first quarter of ***, more than *** million data sets. Data breaches remain among the biggest concerns of company leaders worldwide. The most common causes of sensitive information loss were operating system vulnerabilities on endpoint devices. Which industries see the most data breaches? Meanwhile, certain conditions make some industry sectors more prone to data breaches than others. According to the latest observations, the public administration experienced the highest number of data breaches between 2021 and 2022. The industry saw *** reported data breach incidents with confirmed data loss. The second were financial institutions, with *** data breach cases, followed by healthcare providers. Data breach cost Data breach incidents have various consequences, the most common impact being financial losses and business disruptions. As of 2023, the average data breach cost across businesses worldwide was **** million U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, a leaked data record cost about *** U.S. dollars. The United States saw the highest average breach cost globally, at **** million U.S. dollars.

Between November 2022 and October 2023, the education saw 860 data breach cases caused by system intrusion. Basic web application attacks resulted in 161 data breaches in the finance sector. Social engineering attacks caused 158 data breaches in the construction sector.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner. The Cyber Security Breaches Survey, (CSBS) is run to understand organisations' approaches and attitudes to cyber security, and to understand their experience of cyber security breaches.. The aim of the survey is to support the Government by providing evidence that can inform policies which help to make Britain a safer place to do business online.These surveys have been conducted annually since 2016 to understand the views of UK organisations on cyber security. Data are collected on topics including online use; attitudes of organisations to cyber security and awareness of Government initiatives; approaches to cyber security (including investment and processes); incidences and impact of a cyber security breach or attack; and how breaches are dealt with by the organisation. This information helps to inform Government policy towards organisations, including how best to target key messages to businesses and charities so that they are cyber secure (and so that the UK is the safest place in the world to do business online). The study is funded by the DCMS as part of the government's £2.6 billion National Cyber Strategy 2022 to protect and promote the UK in cyber space.The underlying data are useful for researchers to better understand the response across a range of organisations and for wider comparability over time. The survey originally only covered businesses but was expanded to include charities from the 2018 survey onwards. From 2020, the survey includes a sample of education institutions (primary and secondary schools, further and higher education). Please note that the UK Data Service only holds datasets on each specific year from 2018 onwards.Cyber Security Breaches Survey: Combined Dataset, 2016-2022 includes data from 2016 to 2022. This is cross-sectional data only and not all variables are included in all years. For longitudinal data, please access the Cyber Security Longitudinal Survey: Wave 1, 2021 (available from the UK Data Archive under SN 8969) and onwards.Further information and additional publications can be found on the GOV.UK Cyber Security Breaches Survey webpage. Main Topics: Views, experiences and behaviours of organisations (UK businesses and charities) on cyber security and cyber security breaches. Multi-stage stratified random sample

In 2023, around 96.75 million e-mail accounts breached originated from the United States, making it the country with the most significant number of user account exposures in the examined year. Russia ranked second, with over 78 million accounts breached, while the France followed, with approximately 10.5 million breached accounts.

In 2022, most healthcare data breaches in the United States happened as a result of hacking or IT-related incidents. The number of such cases was 555 in the examined year. The next-most common cause for data breaches was unauthorized access or disclosure, detected in 113 cases. Loss and theft of data were less common causes of data breaches in the U.S. healthcare system in 2022. Overall, in 2022, there were 707 data breaches of over 500 records in the U.S. healthcare industry.

Analysis of ‘List of Top Data Breaches (2004 - 2021)’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from https://www.kaggle.com/hishaamarmghan/list-of-top-data-breaches-2004-2021 on 14 February 2022.

--- Dataset description provided by original source is as follows ---

This is a dataset containing all the major data breaches in the world from 2004 to 2021

As we know, there is a big issue related to the privacy of our data. Many major companies in the world still to this day face this issue every single day. Even with a great team of people working on their security, many still suffer. In order to tackle this situation, it is only right that we must study this issue in great depth and therefore I pulled this data from Wikipedia to conduct data analysis. I would encourage others to take a look at this as well and find as many insights as possible.

This data contains 5 columns: 1. Entity: The name of the company, organization or institute 2. Year: In what year did the data breach took place 3. Records: How many records were compromised (can include information like email, passwords etc.) 4. Organization type: Which sector does the organization belong to 5. Method: Was it hacked? Were the files lost? Was it an inside job?

Here is the source for the dataset: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_data_breaches

Here is the GitHub link for a guide on how it was scraped: https://github.com/hishaamarmghan/Data-Breaches-Scraping-Cleaning

--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

As of January 2025, the most significant data privacy violation fine worldwide was for social media giant Meta. In May 2023, the Data Protection Commission (DPC) of Ireland decided to fine the company with 1.2 billion euros or 1.3 billion U.S. dollars. The Chinese vehicle-for rent company Didi Global ranked second. In July 2022, China's data privacy regulator fined the company 8.026 billion Chinese yuan, or 1.19 billion U.S. dollars. The 2021 Amazon fine issued by Luxembourg's data privacy regulation authorities was 877 million U.S. dollars and was the third-biggest data breach fine as of the measured month. The 2019 fine of 575 million U.S. dollars to Equifax followed. In this incident, because of unpatched vulnerabilities, nearly 150 million people were affected, which caused the American consumer credit reporting agency to pay at least 575 million U.S. dollars.

Analysis of ‘Data Breach Notifications Affecting Washington Residents (Personal Information Breakdown)’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/e046c966-f19a-4d3d-aadb-ac5d1a90ff3d on 27 January 2022.

--- Dataset description provided by original source is as follows ---

• Washington law requires entities impacted by a data breach to notify the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) when more than 500 Washingtonians personal information was compromised as a result of the breach. This dataset breaks out the individual types of breached personal information that were identified in each notice our office received. This data is used to produce the AGO’s Annual Data Breach Report. For additional statistics relating to data breaches, also see the main dataset at: https://data.wa.gov/Consumer-Protection/Data-Breach-Notifications-Affecting-Washington-Res/sb4j-ca4h.

--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

According to the majority of small business leaders surveyed for this study, most data breaches in Canada occurred as a result of malicious actors. At the same tine, ** percent of data breaches happened due to employee error in 2022.

The data exfiltration market, valued at $87.94 million in 2025, is experiencing robust growth, projected to expand at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.38% from 2025 to 2033. This growth is fueled by the increasing sophistication of cyberattacks, the expanding digital landscape, and the rising volume of sensitive data stored and transmitted across networks. The proliferation of cloud computing and remote work environments further exacerbates vulnerabilities, creating lucrative opportunities for malicious actors and driving demand for robust data exfiltration prevention and detection solutions. Key market segments include SMEs and large enterprises, with solutions and services catering to diverse end-user verticals like BFSI, IT and Telecom, Healthcare, and Government. North America currently holds a significant market share, driven by strong technological advancements and a high concentration of major players like NortonLifeLock, McAfee, and Palo Alto Networks. However, the Asia-Pacific region is anticipated to witness significant growth in the coming years due to rapid digitalization and increasing internet penetration. The market faces challenges such as the evolving nature of cyber threats requiring constant adaptation of security solutions, and the high cost of implementation and maintenance of advanced security systems. The competitive landscape is characterized by a mix of established players and emerging innovative companies. Established players like NortonLifeLock and McAfee leverage their brand recognition and extensive customer base to maintain their market share. Simultaneously, innovative companies are introducing advanced threat detection and response technologies, driving innovation and competition within the market. The market segmentation by organization size highlights the varying needs of SMEs and large enterprises, influencing the type of solutions adopted. Similarly, the end-user vertical segmentation reveals the unique security challenges faced by different industries, leading to specialized solutions for the BFSI, healthcare, and government sectors. Future market growth will depend on continued technological innovation, the development of more sophisticated threat detection mechanisms, and proactive government regulations aimed at enhancing cybersecurity practices. Recent developments include: January 2023: EfficientIP, the DDI security and automation specialist (DNS, DHCP, IPAM), announced the availability of its new DNS-based Data Exfiltration Application to partners and organizations for free. The program is intended to be a hands-on online tool that allows enterprises to conduct their own 'ethical hack' on their DNS system and related security defenses to uncover potential network weaknesses that might lead to a data breach., August 2022: Code42 Software, Inc., one of the leaders in Insider Risk Management (IRM), announced a collaboration with Nullafi, one of the leaders in real-time sensitive data detection and protection, to limit access to regulated data - financial, healthcare, Personally Identifiable Information (PII), or other sensitive data that insiders may accidentally or maliciously expose. With the Nullafi Partnership, Code42 Incydr restricted insider access and prevented data exfiltration of PII, regulated, and sensitive data.. Key drivers for this market are: Exponential Growth in the Volumes of Enterprise Data and the Need for Data Exfiltration Prevention Solutions, Strict Regulatory Requirements for Data Protection; Increasing Incidents of Data Loss in the On-Premises Environment. Potential restraints include: Exponential Growth in the Volumes of Enterprise Data and the Need for Data Exfiltration Prevention Solutions, Strict Regulatory Requirements for Data Protection; Increasing Incidents of Data Loss in the On-Premises Environment. Notable trends are: Healthcare and Life Sciences End User Segment is Expected to Hold Significant Market Share.

Data Encryption Market Overview The global data encryption market is projected to register significant growth, with a market size of USD 14.5 billion in 2025 and a CAGR of 16% over the forecast period of 2025-2033. The increasing adoption of cloud computing and digital transformation initiatives are driving the demand for data encryption solutions to protect sensitive data from cyber threats. Additionally, industry regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA, are mandating organizations to implement data encryption measures, further fueling market growth. Market Drivers, Restraints, and Trends Key market drivers include rising cybersecurity threats, increasing data breaches, and the growing need for data privacy. The increasing adoption of IoT and mobile computing is also contributing to the need for data encryption. However, the high cost of implementation and the lack of skilled professionals can pose challenges to market growth. Notable market trends include the emergence of advanced encryption algorithms, such as quantum-safe cryptography, and the integration of encryption with AI and machine learning technologies. Regional factors, such as government regulations and technology adoption rates, also influence the market's growth trajectory. Recent developments include: On Apr. 11, 2023, Menlo Security, a leading provider of browser security solutions, published the results of the 10th Annual Cyberthreat Defense Report (CDR) by the CyberEdge Group. The report, partially sponsored by Menlo Security, highlights the augmenting importance of browser isolation technologies to combat ransomware and other malicious threats., The research revealed that most ransomware attacks include threats beyond data encryption. According to the report, around 51% of respondents confirmed that they have been using at least one type of browser or Internet isolation to protect their organizational data, while another 40% are about to deploy data encryption technology. Furthermore, around 33% of respondents noted that browser isolation is a key cybersecurity strategy to protect against sophisticated attacks, including ransomware, phishing, and zero-day attacks., On Feb.14, 2023, EnterpriseDB, a relational database provider, announced the addition of Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) based on open-source PostgreSQL to its databases. The new TDE feature will be shipped along with the firm's enterprise version of its database. TDE is a method of encrypting database files to ensure data security while at rest and in motion., Adding that most enterprises use TDE for compliance issues helps ensure data encryption on the hard drive and files on a backup. Before the development of built-in TDE, enterprises relied on either full-disk encryption or stackable cryptographic file system encryption., On Jan.25, 2023, Researchers from the Tokyo University of Science, Japan, announced the development of a faster and cheaper method for handling encrypted data while improving security. The new data encryption method developed by Japanese researchers combines the best of homomorphic encryption and secret sharing to handle encrypted data., Homomorphic encryption and secret sharing are key methods to compute sensitive data while preserving privacy. Homomorphic encryption is computationally intensive and involves performing computational data encryption on a single server, while secret sharing is fast and computationally efficient., In this method, the encrypted data/secret input is divided and distributed across multiple servers, each performing a computation, such as multiplication, on its data. The results of the computations are then used to reconstruct the original data., September 2022: Convergence Technology Solutions Corp., a supplier of software-enabled IT and cloud solutions, declared that it has obtained certification in Canada to sell and deploy IBM zsystems and LinuxONE., November 2019: Penta Security Systems announced that it has been selected as a finalist for the 2020 SC Magazine Awards, which are given by SC Media and celebrated in the United States. As a result, MyDiamo from Penta Security has been named the Best Database Security Solution of 2020. Additionally, this will result in the expansion of common-level encryption and improve the open-source DBMS installation procedure.. Potential restraints include: ISSUE REGARDING SECURITY AND DATA BREACH 44, HIGH IMPLEMENTATION COSTS AND COMPLEXITY 45; ISSUE WITH RESPECT TO DATA CONSISTENCY AND INTEROPERABILITY ACROSS DIFFERENT EDGE PLATFORMS 45.

The Cyber Security Longitudinal Survey (CSLS) helps us better understand cyber security policies and processes within medium and large businesses and high-income charities. It explores the links over time between these policies and processes and the likelihood and impact of a cyber incident. The survey is commissioned by The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and is part of the National Cyber Strategy. It aims to support the Government by providing evidence that can inform policies which help to make Britain a safer place to do business online. This is the second research year (or wave) of a three-year study and the data were collected over 2022.

The core objectives of the study are to:

• explore how and why UK organisations are changing their cyber security profile and how they implement, measure, and improve their cyber defences.

• provide a more in-depth picture of larger organisations, covering topics that are lightly covered in the Cyber Security Breaches Survey (available from the UK Data Archive under Generic Number 33549), such as corporate governance, supply chain risk management, internal and external reporting, cyber strategy, and cyber insurance.

• explore the effects of actions adopted by organisations to improve their cyber security on the likelihood and impact of a cyber incident.

Further information and additional publications can be found on the GOV.UK Cyber Security Longitudinal Survey pages.

Wave 1 data from the Cyber Security Longitudinal Survey can also be found on the UK Data Archive under Study Number 8969.

The Incident Response Services market is experiencing robust growth, driven by the increasing frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks targeting businesses across all sectors. The market's Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 20.83% from 2019 to 2024 suggests a significant expansion, projected to continue into the forecast period (2025-2033). This growth is fueled by several factors, including the rising adoption of cloud technologies (increasing attack surface), the expanding digital footprint of organizations, and increasingly stringent data privacy regulations necessitating proactive security measures. The need for rapid and effective incident response to minimize downtime, data breaches, and reputational damage is driving demand for specialized services from established players and emerging niche providers. Large enterprises are currently the largest segment, but smaller and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are showing accelerated growth as they become increasingly aware of their cybersecurity vulnerabilities. The BFSI (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance) and IT & Telecom sectors are key end-user industries, but growth is also visible in healthcare, government, and transportation due to the increasing digitalization in these sectors. The competitive landscape is characterized by a mix of global cybersecurity giants, specialized incident response firms, and consulting companies offering cybersecurity services. Geographical distribution shows North America currently holding a substantial market share, but Asia-Pacific is expected to witness significant growth owing to rapid digital transformation and increasing internet penetration in developing economies. While North America maintains a dominant position due to early adoption and established security infrastructure, the Asia-Pacific region is poised for substantial growth, fueled by increasing digitalization and government initiatives promoting cybersecurity. The market segmentation by enterprise size reveals a substantial contribution from large enterprises, which are often targets of sophisticated attacks. However, the SME segment is experiencing the fastest growth rate, reflecting a growing awareness of cyber threats and a greater need for affordable, accessible incident response services. The presence of both large multinational corporations and specialized firms ensures a varied range of service offerings catering to the diverse needs of different clients. The forecast for 2033 suggests a significant market expansion, driven by ongoing digital transformation and evolving cyber threats, underscoring the enduring importance of proactive and reactive incident response capabilities. Continued innovation in areas such as AI-driven threat detection and automation will further shape market dynamics. Recent developments include: October 2022: BlackBerry launched Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI), a professional threat intelligence service that will provide actionable intelligence on targeted attacks and cybercrime-motivated threat actors and campaigns, as well as intelligence reports specific to industries, regions, and countries, to help customers prevent, detect, and effectively respond to cyberattacks., October 2022: Check Point Software launched Check Point Quantum Titan, which leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning to deliver advanced threat prevention against advanced domain name system exploits (DNS) and phishing as autonomous IoT across the network, data center, cloud, and endpoints.. Key drivers for this market are: Increasing Number of Security Breaches in BFSI sector to drive the market, Increasing Compliance Requirements by Enterprises is expected to flourish the market. Potential restraints include: Increasing Number of Security Breaches in BFSI sector to drive the market, Increasing Compliance Requirements by Enterprises is expected to flourish the market. Notable trends are: BFSI Sector to Drive the Market Growth.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner. The Cyber Security Longitudinal Survey (CSLS) helps us better understand cyber security policies and processes within medium and large businesses and high-income charities. It explores the links over time between these policies and processes and the likelihood and impact of a cyber incident. The survey is commissioned by The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and is part of the National Cyber Strategy. It aims to support the Government by providing evidence that can inform policies which help to make Britain a safer place to do business online. This is the second research year (or wave) of a three-year study and the data were collected over 2022. The core objectives of the study are to: explore how and why UK organisations are changing their cyber security profile and how they implement, measure, and improve their cyber defences. provide a more in-depth picture of larger organisations, covering topics that are lightly covered in the Cyber Security Breaches Survey (available from the UK Data Archive under Generic Number 33549), such as corporate governance, supply chain risk management, internal and external reporting, cyber strategy, and cyber insurance. explore the effects of actions adopted by organisations to improve their cyber security on the likelihood and impact of a cyber incident. Further information and additional publications can be found on the GOV.UK Cyber Security Longitudinal Survey pages. Wave 1 data from the Cyber Security Longitudinal Survey can also be found on the UK Data Archive under Study Number 8969. Main Topics: The questionnaire covered the following topic areas:cyber profile of organisationsboard involvement in cyber securitycurrent cyber security policies and processes and any improvements made over the last 12 monthssupplier risksinfluencers of changes in policies and processesuse and forms of cyber insuranceuse of information or guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to inform approach to cyber securitycyber security incident prevalence, impact and costscyber security incident management