The next most-impacted sectors were Tech and Finance, with 2 billion and 1.6 billion records stolen, respectively.Īlthough these three sectors had the highest totals of user data lost, that doesn’t necessarily imply they have weaker security measures. The massive Yahoo hack accounted for roughly 30% of the 9.9 billion user records stolen from the Web sector-by far the most impacted sector. Here are the 50 largest data breaches by amount of user records stolen from 2004–2021.
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While the full extent of the Yahoo data breach is still not fully realized, subsequent cybercrimes across the globe have been linked to the stolen information. In that cyberattack, the hackers were able to gather the personal information and passwords of users. The largest data breach recorded occurred in 2013 when all three billion Yahoo accounts had their information compromised. Stolen information can then be used in other criminal enterprises such as identity theft, credit card fraud, or held for ransom payment. The targeted data is often customer PII (personally identifiable information), employee PII, intellectual property, corporate data or government agency data.ĭate breaches can be perpetrated by lone hackers, organized cybercrime groups, or even national governments. This can occur as a result of malware attacks, payment card fraud, insider leaks, or unintended disclosure.
Understanding the Basics of Data BreachesĪ data breach is an incident in which sensitive or confidential information is copied, transmitted or stolen by an unauthorized entity. Data was aggregated from company statements and news reports. This graphic by Chimdi Nwosu visualizes the 50 largest data breaches since 2004, along with the sectors most impacted.
In 2021, a new record was set with more than 5.9 billion user records stolen. Visualizing The 50 Biggest Data Breaches From 2004–2021Īs our world has become increasingly reliant on technology and data stored online, data breaches have become an omnipresent threat to users, businesses, and government agencies.
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