2015 — Year in review
Years are assigned by disclosure date, falling back to discovery, then occurrence date.
Breach Census recorded 236 confirmed incidents in 2015. That is up from 214 in 2014, a rise of 22 incidents (10.3%). Incidents are assigned to a year by disclosure date, falling back to discovery, then occurrence date, and totals for the most recent years can still grow as new sources are confirmed and published.
Retail was the most common sector, with 4 of the 7 incidents that had a sector assigned. The most common attack type among incidents with one recorded was Malware Deployment, in 5 incidents.
The most-reported jurisdictions were US-CA (206), US-WI (16), and US-WA (14).
By sector
| Sector | Confirmed incidents |
|---|---|
| Unclassified | 229 |
| Retail | 4 |
| Healthcare | 1 |
| Pharma | 1 |
| Professional Services | 1 |
Top jurisdictions
| Jurisdiction | Confirmed incidents |
|---|---|
| US-CA | 206 |
| US-WI | 16 |
| US-WA | 14 |
Questions and answers
How many confirmed data breaches were disclosed in 2015?
Breach Census recorded 236 confirmed data breach incidents for 2015, assigned by disclosure date, falling back to discovery, then occurrence date.
Which sector reported the most breaches in 2015?
Retail reported the most confirmed breaches in 2015, with 4 of the 7 incidents that had a sector assigned.