2021 — Year in review
Years are assigned by disclosure date, falling back to discovery, then occurrence date.
Breach Census recorded 2,816 confirmed incidents in 2021. That is up from 2,517 in 2020, a rise of 299 incidents (11.9%). 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.
Insurance was the most common sector, with 13 of the 70 incidents that had a sector assigned. The most common attack type among incidents with one recorded was Ransomware Attack, in 63 incidents.
Regulators issued fines totaling 1,825,000 EUR across 7 actions in 2021. The most-reported jurisdictions were US-MA (2,211), US-CA (382), and US-WA (185).
Regulator fines by currency
Totals are not summed across currencies.
| Currency | Actions | Total |
|---|---|---|
| EUR | 7 | 1,825,000 EUR |
By sector
| Sector | Confirmed incidents |
|---|---|
| Unclassified | 2,746 |
| Insurance | 13 |
| Finance | 13 |
| Healthcare | 9 |
| Real Estate | 5 |
| Manufacturing | 5 |
| Technology | 5 |
| Professional Services | 5 |
| Pharma | 4 |
| Retail | 4 |
| Transport | 3 |
| Energy | 1 |
| Other | 1 |
| Telecoms | 1 |
| Education | 1 |
Top jurisdictions
| Jurisdiction | Confirmed incidents |
|---|---|
| US-MA | 2,211 |
| US-CA | 382 |
| US-WA | 185 |
| US-DE | 26 |
| US-WI | 12 |
Questions and answers
How many confirmed data breaches were disclosed in 2021?
Breach Census recorded 2,816 confirmed data breach incidents for 2021, assigned by disclosure date, falling back to discovery, then occurrence date.
Which sector reported the most breaches in 2021?
Insurance reported the most confirmed breaches in 2021, with 13 of the 70 incidents that had a sector assigned.