Some Critical Data Breach Statistics And Facts For People To Be Well Prepared To Fight Against Cybercrime
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Data Breach Statistics: The issue of data breaches has become more prevalent nowadays. It affects internet users and almost all types of businesses more now than ever. The average cost of data breaches as well is also increasing as cybercriminals are becoming more tech-savvy. Many businesses and individuals face more significant ramifications as a result of compromised data due to cybercrime attacks.
Data breaches affect a wide range of industries such as finance, healthcare, education, and retail. Considering the frequency of data breaches these days, it seems none of our personal details is as safe as we might think. Here we will discuss the most alarming data breach statistics and trends to show how the issue of compromised data is becoming an increasingly grave threat for all of us.
Key Data Breach Statistics (Editor’s Choice)
- Nearly 68 records are compromised per second.
- Around 71% of data breaches are monetarily motivated.
- The average time to find out about a data breach in a firm is 295
- Around the world in the 1st quarter of 2023, more than 6 million data were exposed through data breaches.
- The average time to recuperate from a data breach incident can go up to 197
- Nearly 79% of firms around the world faced a phishing attack in 2023.
- The global average cost of a data breach has reached $4.45 million in 2023.
- The median cost per lost record is $183.
- Nearly 75%of firms have said that they have faced material disruption in business processes due to a data breach.
- About 21%of all folders in a standard firm are accessible to everyone.
- The worldwide spending on information security was estimated to be $1 billion in 2023.
- Around 4 billion phishing emails are exchanged every day around the world per day.
- As of September 2023, small businesses fall prey to 43%of data breaches.
Global Data Breach Statistics
#1. Around 45% of firms in the US suffer a data breach
In the 2nd quarter of 2023, the most data breaches is experienced by the United States 49.82 million accounts. However, experts say that the figure might be higher than this as many data breaches remain undetected for a long time.
#2. The global average cost of a data breach touched $4.45 million in 2023
The mean cost of a data breach has seen an increase of 2.6% with $4.45 million in 2023, increased from last year.
#3. The United States experiences the majority of data breaches
Data breach statistics reveal that the US is most affected by data breach incidents. The country faces most data breaches. In 2023, around 612.4 million users suffered data breaches. Around 156.1 million users in Iran were affected by data breaches. The US contributes to over 57% of data breaches and 97% of the total compromised records.
#4. 60% of surveyed firms have said that they have suffered a data breach at some point in time
A comprehensive survey of firms around the world has revealed that nearly 3 out of 5 firms have faced a data breach at some point. Around 30% of surveyed firms have said that they have suffered at least one data breach in the past year.
#5. Around 68 documents are lost every second
Some parts of these records are stolen due to human error in an organization. Other records are infected due to the increasing number of cyber attacks each day.
#6. It takes around 277 days on average to find out about a data breach
A study of 51% of organizations across 15 countries has shown that the average time to recognize a data breach has increased in 2023.
#7. Extensive use of IoT devices and smartphones has contributed to the growing trend of data breaches
The growing number of IoT devices, the use of mobile devices, increased migration to the cloud, and compliance failures are contributing to the growing number of data breach incidents.
#8. By March 2023, data leaks in 2023 affected around 41.9 million records.
Microsoft suffered a major data breach attack in 2023 that compromised more than 41.9 million valuable records of customers around the world.
#9. At least 4 incidents of the data breach in 2020 affected more than a billion records
A data breach incident at CAM4 with 10.88 billion compromised data, another leak at Advanced Info Service with 8.3 billion infected data, and a data breach at Keepnet Labs with 5 billion compromised records were among the major data breaches that took place in 2020.
#10. The worldwide spending on data security was estimated to be $219 billion in 2023
Worldwide spending on data security has been increasing since 2017. The projected global spending on data security was $219 billion in 2023; it indicated a 12.1% increase from 2022.
#11. Nearly 74% of data breaches have had a human element
The 2023 data breach statistics show that nearly 74% of data breaches have contained a human element including those incidents where employees have directly compromised confidential records.
#12. Firms that face a data breach perform less by more than 15% in the market after three years of the data breach
A survey has found that 14 business days after the data breach, around 34 surveyed firms have seen a 3.5% drop in their share prices on average. In the long term, these companies have not been able to keep up with the NASDAQ average.
#13. Nearly 75% of firms have said that a data breach has resulted in material damage to their business processes
Around three-quarters of surveyed firms have said that data breaches are enough to cause serious material damage to business processes.
#14. Astray business cost is the highest element of the total expenditure of a data breach
There are four modules of a data breach such as detection and escalation, notification, ex-post response, and lost business cost. As per data breach statistics, firms attribute nearly 37.5% to the lost business cost.
#15. Around 69% of firms in the US faced a data breach last year
A KPMG survey of senior risk executives that was done in 2023 has found that nearly 69% of firms in the United States. These companies have also suffered a financial loss due to the cyber incident in the same year.
#16. 83% of firms have said that a data breach has left a negative material effect on their reputation
Data breach statistics show that a data breach negatively affects a company's marketplace image, brand, and reputation. In the modern-day business landscape, where consumers have become more aware, it is hard to maintain a reputation.
#17. Globally 553 organizations have invested around 20% of their security budget on data breaches in 2023
The latest study of the security budget shows that global spending on data security shot up more than 20%. It shows that companies consider a data breach a more serious threat.
#18. The highest average time to find out about a data breach and contain it is in the entertainment industry
In the meantime recognizing a data breach and containing it differs across industries. Entertainment, healthcare, and media industries take the highest mean time to identify and resolve a data breach.
#19. Geographically, the highest average time to find out about a data breach and control takes place in the Middle East and the lowest average time occurs in Germany
The mean data breach response time also differs across locations. Firms located in the Middle East, Turkey, and Brazil appear to take the highest time to find out and control a data breach. While Germany, the US, Canada, South Africa, and the UK take the lowest average, time to respond to a data breach.
#20. As per 2023 data breach stats, 20% and 5% of data breach incidents impacted in large and small enterprises respectively.
A report based on an analysis of nearly 79000 security mishaps with 5200 confirmed data breaches revealed that stolen credentials were used in more than 60% of security incidents.
(Source: comparitech.com)
#21. The average time to recuperate from a data breach can be as high as 197 days
The recovery process to pull through a data breach also takes time. The latest data breach statistics show that a specialized data recovery system or team in a company can reduce the average recovery time by half.
#22. Nearly 71% of IT professionals think that the severity of data breaches has gone up
Hackers are using the most contemporary tools to attack the security systems of firms; it makes it quite hard to defy such security attacks.
#23. Organized crime groups are liable for 55% of data breaches
A report shows that more than 70% of security breaches are led by outsiders. While fewer than 55% of data breaches involve organized criminal groups.
Other statistics are followed by internal bad actors (30%), four or more attacker actions (4%), multiple partners (1%), and partners (1%).
(Source: embroker.com)
#24. About 36% of data breaches involve phishing hits
More than one-third of data breaches entail phishing, 32% of data breaches involve hacking, and 19% of them are led by other malicious hacking like a ransomware attack.
#25. Around 4,800 websites will be hacked with form jacking code per quarter by June 2023.
In form jacking, cybercriminals use JavaScript code to seize website payment forms. Formjacking is also known as digital card skimming, which is utilized to steal credit card details and other confidential data.
#26. The discovery time of 60% of data breaches can go up to weeks or longer
More than half of organizations spend weeks discovering a data breach.
#27. Enterprise ransomware assaults are increasing rapidly
Ransomware attacks pose a great threat to the data security of many companies.
#28. In the underground economy, the average price for a stolen payment card is less than $5
As per a survey done in 2023, the average cost of a British payment card is between 1.5% and 3.5%.
#29. Only 53% of firms share details about data breaches and incident response with authorities and industry counterparts
It shows that there might be many security incidents that are not reported.
#30. Gmail account records are worth an average of $3,588.85 in 2023.
Many people around the world link their other accounts to their Google accounts. It shows that access to Gmail can help hackers reset passwords of any other linked accounts.
Cause And Ways To Prevent A Data Breach
#31. The frequency of data breaches has been on the rise in recent years
As per the 2021 data breach statistics, more than 68% of data breaches took place in corporations.
#32. Stolen credentials have led to the majority of data breaches
A study done by IBM has shown that compromised records have led to 19% of data breaches at a mean cost of $4.50 million.
#33. Remote working style due to the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in the cost of the data breach
The average cost was $1.07 million greater in data breaches during the pandemic where remote work was responsible for causing the incident.
#34. Security artificial intelligence (AI) has the highest cost-mitigating impact
If deployed properly Security AI and automation can offer the highest cost reduction up to $1.8 million less as compared to firms that do not have these tools deployed.
#35. Cloud migration affects the cost and containment of the data breach
IBM research has shown that firms that have opted for a Cloud modernization strategy have been able to contain and recover from a data breach 77 days faster on average than those firms that have just started a Cloud modernization strategy.
#36. A ‘Zero-trust' approach is beneficial for cost mitigation
With a mature ‘Zero-trust' strategy, the average cost of a data breach can be $1.51 million less at firms.
#37. Public administration is most at risk from social engineering attacks
Social engineering attack is a type of cybercrime where cybercriminals trick the target via impersonation. Social engineering attacks account for 69% of all data breaches in public administration.
#38. Nearly two-thirds of firms have more than 1,000 sensitive files unprotected
The latest data breach statistics show that large numbers of sensitive files containing information like credit card details, and health records are available openly. A study has found that in 64% of financial corporations, each employee has access to more than 1,000 sensitive records.
#39. Staff members at big corporations have access to nearly 20 million files
Employees working at large firms can access around 20 million files.
Exposure By Company Size
| Financial Service company size | Avg. # of files | Avg. # of files open to everyone | Avg. % of files open to everyone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large | 134,368,022 | 20,427,920 | 15% |
| Medium | 75,085,577 | 10,254,062 | 13% |
| Small | 6,800,969 | 570,284 | 11% |
| Industry average | 74,309,255 | 10,774,940 | 13% |
(Source: Varonis)
#40. Customer Personally Identifiable Information (Customer PII) is the most regular and costly form of stolen record
In 2023, Customer PII accounted for 52% of data breaches and the average cost per Customer PII had been $183.
#41. Cyber attacks and data scams are considered some of the major global risks
Cyber attacks and data fraud have been placed in the third position in terms of the most worrying risks for companies.
(Source: WEC)
#42. The Healthcare sector has been the most vulnerable industry to data breaches in the first quarter of 2023.
As of April 2023, data breaches have shown that the healthcare industry and health sciences have faced the highest number of data breaches accounting for 30%.
(Source: IT Governance)
#43. 57% of firms do not accept data breach disclosures
Security researchers keep tracking the internet for potential data breaches and then provide disclosures to concerned companies. However, more than half of firms do not respond to a breach disclosure. Only 23% of companies respond to breach disclosures within a day.
#44. Around 8, 00,000 cyber-attacks effectively penetrate through a business network
A study has revealed a shocking fact that in 93% of incidents, an external hacker can successfully break a corporate network.
#45. Cyber attack has been the most common type of security breach in 2022
A report put together by IT Governance has shown that in the first quarter of 2022, cyber attack has been the most standard form of data breach. Cyber attacks have accounted for 79,729,271 publically disclosed events.
#46. There was a 91% increase in the number of cyber attacks in 2023
As per data breach statistics, there had been a 91% increase in the frequency of cyber-attacks in 2023. These cyber-attacks involved phishing attempts, command and control attempts, malicious file downloads, malicious website access, and exploiting vulnerabilities.
Conclusion
Considering the digital age, we live in, there is no doubt that data security and defense system is highly important for all types of industry and companies. Executives should keep assessing cybersecurity risks before implementing any company-wide changes.
A data breach can hamper a company's market image and brand along with causing hefty monetary loss. These data breach statistics reveal how vital it is for firms to keep updating their security systems to protect their businesses from facing a data breach.
Sources
Barry is a lover of everything technology. Figuring out how the software works and creating content to shed more light on the value it offers users is his favorite pastime. When not evaluating apps or programs, he's busy trying out new healthy recipes, doing yoga, meditating, or taking nature walks with his little one.
