Global number of breached user accounts Q1 2020-Q4 2023

During the fourth quarter of 2023, data breaches exposed more than eight million records worldwide. Since the first quarter of 2020, the highest number of data records were exposed in the fourth quarter of 2020, nearly 125 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 495 reported data breach incidents with confirmed data loss. The second were financial institutions, with 421 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 4.45 million U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, a leaked data record cost about 165 U.S. dollars. The United States saw the highest average breach cost globally, at 9.48 million U.S. dollars.