2022 — Year in review
Years are assigned by disclosure date, falling back to discovery, then occurrence date.
Breach Census recorded 2,457 confirmed incidents in 2022. That is down from 2,816 in 2021, a fall of 359 incidents (12.7%). 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 10 of the 50 incidents that had a sector assigned. The most common attack type among incidents with one recorded was Ransomware Attack, in 55 incidents.
Regulators issued fines totaling 56,750,000 GBP across 2 actions and 4,075,000 EUR across 8 actions in 2022. The most-reported jurisdictions were US-MA (1,913), US-CA (318), and US-WA (168).
Regulator fines by currency
Totals are not summed across currencies.
| Currency | Actions | Total |
|---|---|---|
| GBP | 2 | 56,750,000 GBP |
| EUR | 8 | 4,075,000 EUR |
By sector
| Sector | Confirmed incidents |
|---|---|
| Unclassified | 2,407 |
| Insurance | 10 |
| Finance | 9 |
| Professional Services | 7 |
| Manufacturing | 6 |
| Healthcare | 6 |
| Technology | 4 |
| Retail | 3 |
| Transport | 3 |
| Energy | 1 |
| Real Estate | 1 |
Top jurisdictions
| Jurisdiction | Confirmed incidents |
|---|---|
| US-MA | 1,913 |
| US-CA | 318 |
| US-WA | 168 |
| US-DE | 37 |
| US-WI | 9 |
| GB | 7 |
| US-HI | 5 |
Questions and answers
How many confirmed data breaches were disclosed in 2022?
Breach Census recorded 2,457 confirmed data breach incidents for 2022, assigned by disclosure date, falling back to discovery, then occurrence date.
Which sector reported the most breaches in 2022?
Insurance reported the most confirmed breaches in 2022, with 10 of the 50 incidents that had a sector assigned.