2.8 Billion US Consumer Records Lost in 2018

In 2018, 2.8 billion consumer data records in the US were exposed, with personally identifiable information (PII) making up 97% of the total information. Those compromised records led to losses totaling more than $654 billion for US businesses.

The findings, from ForgeRock's US Consumer Data Breach Report, are based on electronic consumer data breaches reported between January 1, 2018 and March 31, 2019. That information shows that the healthcare industry is, by far, the most likely to be hit with breaches; it's responsible for nearly half (48%) of the total. That number is more than four times the percentage seen in any other business sector.

There were some significant shifts during the year. The number of healthcare breaches grew 400% between the first quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019. And while unauthorized access was the most common loss factor in 2018, featuring in 34% of all breaches, in the first quarter of 2019 it was overtaken by misconfigurations, which sprang into the lead.

For more, read here.