As of December 2024, the most significant data breach incident in the United States was the Yahoo data breach that dates back to 2013-2016. Impacting over three billion online users, this incident still remains one of the most significant data breaches worldwide. The second-biggest case was the January 2021 data breach at Microsoft, involving about 30 thousand companies in the United States and around 60 thousand companies around the world.

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.

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.

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.

In 2024, numerous data breach incidents were disclosed, causing uncertainty among customers. Some of the incidents have refused to disclose the exact number of individuals impacted, so the impact in these cases is only estimated. The largest data breach is believed to have impacted every American, with around ************* records being breached. A UK-based pathology lab, Synnovis, saw a ransomware attack in July 2024, which impacted approximately *** million patients.

Between the third quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2025, the number of records exposed in data breaches in the United States decreased significantly. In the most recent measured period, over **** million records were reported as leaked, down from around ****** million in the third quarter of 2024.

Data breaches cost companies considerably less had they deployed security automation. In 2024, a data breach cost an organization that extensively used security automation 3.84 million U.S. dollars on average, compared to 5.72 million U.S. dollars on average for an organization with no such deployment.

Between the first quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2024, the number of data compromise cases in the United States increased significantly. The highest number of data compromises was recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023, with 1,089 cases. However, the number of recorded cases fell to 841 in the first quarter of 2024. In the fourth quarter of 2022, more than 253 million individuals were affected by data compromise incidents. By the first quarter of 2024, this number decreased to around 28.5 million.

Between May 2018 and September 2024, France saw eight incidents of significant data breaches. The first recorded case was the May 2018 data breach at Apollo.io. The marketing company based in San Francisco lost approximately 10.93 million data records from French users. The latest reported data breach incident occurred at the France-based security company Thales. As a result of this incident, 9.5 GB of archive files were leaked.

Between January and September 2024, healthcare organizations in the United States saw 491 large-scale data breaches, resulting in the loss of over 500 records. This figure has increased significantly in the last decade. To date, the highest number of large-scale data breaches in the U.S. healthcare sector was recorded in 2023, with a reported 745 cases.

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.

Since the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) implementation Europe-wide on the 25th of May 2018, the highest number of personal data breaches as of January 2024 were reported in the Netherlands, a total of around *******. The Netherlands ranked second, with more than ******* personal data breach notifications.

Between 2008 and 2024, the most significant data breach in the financial industry worldwide was detected in 2019 in the United States at the First American Financial Corporation. This data breach caused the leakage of *** million financial and personal records. The financial industry is one of the most targeted sectors by cyberattacks that lead to data breaches. However, cyber-attacks are not the only reason for a data breach. Sometimes data compromise occurs due to other reasons, such as system errors.

Between the second quarter of 2022 and the third quarter of 2024, the number of records exposed to account breaches in Thailand fluctuated significantly. Over 690,000 datasets were reported as having been leaked in the third quarter of 2024, compared to around 166,000 during the same quarter of the previous year.

In 2024, the financial services industry in the United States was the most targeted by cyberattacks, that resulted in data compromises. That year, financial institutions in the U.S. saw 737 data compromise incidents. On the other hand, in 2023, the number of data compromise incidents in the U.S. healthcare industry was much higher than in the latest measured year.

In 2024, the average cost of an industrial data breach reached its peak with an average of 5.56 million U.S. dollars, up from 4.73 million U.S. dollars in 2023. In comparison, the global average cost of a data breach across all studied industries was 4.88 million U.S. dollars.

As of January 2024, about ** percent of organizations in the United Kingdom reported experiencing a data breach accident once a month. A further ** percent said they had encountered a data breach event less than once a month in the past 12 months. Meanwhile, ** percent said they had experienced a data breach incident once a week.

As of 2024, the average cost per stolen record in data breaches worldwide amounted to *** U.S. dollars, up from *** dollars in the previous year. The average cost of a data breach worldwide was **** million U.S. dollars.

Between March 2022 and February 2024, the highest average cost of a data breach, nearly **** million U.S. dollars, was detected in the healthcare industry. The financial sector ranked second, with **** million U.S. dollars on average per breach. The global average data breach cost in the measured period was **** million U.S. dollars. Data breaches in the public sector cost relatively low, an average of **** million U.S. dollars during the measured period.

According to a 2024 survey, 63 percent of companies worldwide planned to increase their cybersecurity investment following a data breach. This represents a 12-percent increase from the previous year.