2019 — Year in review
Years are assigned by disclosure date, falling back to discovery, then occurrence date.
Breach Census recorded 1,986 confirmed incidents in 2019. That is up from 326 in 2018, a rise of 1,660 incidents (509.2%). 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.
Technology was the most common sector, with 9 of the 50 incidents that had a sector assigned. The most common attack type among incidents with one recorded was Hacking/IT Incident, in 18 incidents.
Regulators issued fines totaling 2,665,100 GBP across 2 actions and 600,000 EUR across 3 actions in 2019. The most-reported jurisdictions were US-MA (1,681), US-CA (217), and US-WA (59).
Regulator fines by currency
Totals are not summed across currencies.
| Currency | Actions | Total |
|---|---|---|
| GBP | 2 | 2,665,100 GBP |
| EUR | 3 | 600,000 EUR |
By sector
| Sector | Confirmed incidents |
|---|---|
| Unclassified | 1,936 |
| Technology | 9 |
| Finance | 8 |
| Healthcare | 6 |
| Insurance | 5 |
| Retail | 5 |
| Manufacturing | 5 |
| Professional Services | 4 |
| Media | 3 |
| Pharma | 3 |
| Energy | 1 |
| Hospitality | 1 |
Top jurisdictions
| Jurisdiction | Confirmed incidents |
|---|---|
| US-MA | 1,681 |
| US-CA | 217 |
| US-WA | 59 |
| US-DE | 19 |
| US-WI | 9 |
| GB | 1 |
Questions and answers
How many confirmed data breaches were disclosed in 2019?
Breach Census recorded 1,986 confirmed data breach incidents for 2019, assigned by disclosure date, falling back to discovery, then occurrence date.
Which sector reported the most breaches in 2019?
Technology reported the most confirmed breaches in 2019, with 9 of the 50 incidents that had a sector assigned.