LONDON—A decade's collection of data breaches shows a bleak picture with billions of records exposed from these incidents and financial damages of more than $1.6 trillion, a new report reveals.
Data collected from public sources reveal that since 2008 there were close to 9,700 breach events in the U.S., involving more than 10.7 billion records, with an average cost calculated in 2018 at $148 per record, according to data compiled by Comparitech.
The information relies only on details made public by state-based sources and in media reports.
“The figures are likely conservative as data breach disclosure laws differ from one state to another; in some cases, even notifying the individuals whose data was exposed is not a requirement,” noted Bleeping Computer.
Regional Breakdown
Comparitech broke the data down per state to determine the regions that were affected the most by data breach incidents. The data includes both a tally of the events and of the records exposed.
According to the report, California is the state with the most publicly documented breaches, and also one where consumer privacy is taken seriously. 1,493 incidents affected 5.59 billion personal records, stated Bleeping Computer it its analysis.
Taking second place is the state of New York. Comparitech found 729 data breach incidents that were publicly documented over the past decade. The records exposed this way amounted to 293 million.
‘Not Always a Balance’
Close behind is Texas, with 661 events and 288 million records exposed. Most of the personal information came from unauthorized access in 2011 of up to 250 million email addresses and names managed by marketing company Epsilon.
“There isn't always a balance between the records exposed and the number of breaches. Data Comparitech collected for Oregon shows that the state suffered at least 157 data security incidents that exposed 1.37 billion records,” noted Bleeping Computer.