In this article, we will discuss How Many Data Breaches 2023? (Statistics List)
Even though there were fewer reported breaches in the first half of 2022 than in the same time period in 2021, Flashpoint thinks the final numbers will be about the same.
A successful data breach can hurt an organization in more ways than one. Not only can it expose sensitive information, but it can also lead to ransomware and other damaging cyberattacks.
Data breaches reported in 2022’s first half are examined in a new report from security firm Flashpoint, State of Data Breach Intelligence: 2022 Midyear Edition.
Data Breaches Are Down 15% Year Over Year
Image credit: pexels
So far, organizations have reported 1,980 security breaches for the first half of this year. That’s about 15% less than the volume for the first half of 2021, which seems like a good sign. But numbers can be misleading, especially since companies don’t always report security breaches right away.
Inga Goddijn, VP of structured intelligence at Flashpoint, said that there are many reasons why the number of data breaches is going down, but the main one is that people are still not telling people about the breaches. “The good news is that normal reporting schedules are starting to come back. As reporting catches up, we expect the number of breaches to reach or even surpass 2021.”
During the same time period, the number of exposed records dropped dramatically from 27.3 billion last year to 1.4 billion this year, which is the lowest number since 2015. Goddijn said that this drop is because fewer open misconfigured services and database breaches are being reported, which can cause billions of records to be lost in a single event.
Last year, there were 13 security breaches that affected at least 100 million records. This has happened only three times so far this year. One example from the past year is the FBS Markets breach, which was reported in March 2021 and caused about 16 billion records to be leaked.
When looking at the total number of breaches each year, the number kept going up for a few years before going down in 2020. In 2017, there were 6,807 of them. In 2018, there were 7,154, and in 2019, there are 7,632. From there, the number fell sharply to 4,472 in 2020 and then slowly went back up to 4,630 in 2021. At this point, it’s hard to say what the total number will be in 2022, but it could be the same as or higher than the total number in 2021.
Causes For Data Breaches
Most of the security breaches that were reported in the first half of 2022 (60%) were caused by hacks, which have been the most common type of security breach for the past few years. In about 11% of the breaches, the cause was not clear. Other breaches were caused by viruses or fraud.
About a quarter of the breaches with a clear cause happened within the organization that was hacked, which points to some kind of insider threat. Most of these (61%) were caused by mistakes in how the data was handled instead of on purpose.
On the other hand, the rest were the result of things like small-scale thefts of customer credit card information and thefts of proprietary technology and source code.
The majority of personal information stolen in hacks during the first half of the year was names and social security numbers, according to Flashpoint. Addresses, financial information, dates of birth, account information, medical information, email addresses, credit card numbers, and passwords were among the other types of information that were stolen.
How Can I keep Cyberattacks From Hurting My Business?
One of the most important things you can do is to make sure you take steps to protect your business from cyber attacks that lead to data breaches that cost your business a lot of money. But schools and colleges are also often targeted and lose a lot of money.
Due to the costs of a cyberattack, some businesses and organizations, like Lincoln College, have had to shut down. Companies, colleges, and other types of organizations have never had to protect themselves more.
Weak business account credentials often make it easier for people to get into networks without permission. So, as long as passwords are still used, the best thing you can do for yourself and the rest of your staff is to get a password manager.
This lets you make strong passwords that are long enough and different enough for each account you have. But you’ll also need to use extra security measures, like 2-Factor Authentication, whenever you can to create a second line of defense.
You also need to make sure that your employees know how to spot suspicious emails and phishing campaigns. 70% of cyberattacks go after business email accounts, so it’s just as important to have people who can spot danger as it is to have software.
Quick Links:
- How Many WordPress Plugins Should You Install? How many WordPress Plugins are too many?
- How Many People Use Upwork?
- How Many People Use Expressvpn? (Users Stats)
- How Many People Use 1password ? (Usage Stats)
- How Many People Use Yahoo Mail? (User Stats)
Conclusion: How Many Data Breaches 2023?
There is now more knowledge you should have about how many data breaches occurred not just in America, but all around the world in 2022. There is a real chance that data breaches will spread and get worse.
If you own a small, medium, or large business, you should take the steps in this article to reduce the risk of cyberattacks and data breaches.
