Fewer Data Breaches in First Half of 2018, but Far More Records Stolen – Report

Digital security provider Gemalto has released the latest findings of the Breach Level Index, a global database of public data breaches.

According to a press release, 945 data breaches resulted in 4.5 billion data records compromised worldwide in the first half of 2018. This represents an increase of 133 percent in the number of records stolen compared with the same period in 2017.

During the first six months of 2018, more than 25 million records were compromised or exposed every day. Only 1 percent of stolen, lost or compromised records were encrypted, a 1.5 percent decline in encrypted records year over year.

Six social media breaches — including the Cambridge Analytica-Facebook incident — accounted for more than 56 percent of records compromised.

Almost 15 billion data records have been exposed since 2013, when the Breach Level Index began benchmarking publicly disclosed data breaches, according to the release.

North America still makes up the largest percentage of breaches and compromised records, at 59 and 72 percent, respectively. The United States is the most popular target for attacks, accounting for more than 57 percent of global breaches and 72 percent of all records stolen.

Europe saw 36 percent fewer incidents but a 28 percent increase in the number of records breached, indicating growing severity of attacks. The United Kingdom remains the most breached country in the region.