Today, the Identity Theft Resource Center® (ITRC), a nationally recognized nonprofit organization established to support victims of identity crime, released its U.S. data breach findings for the first half (H1) of 2023. According to the H1 2023 Data Breach Report, there were 951 publicly-reported data compromises in the quarter, a 114 percent increase compared to the previous quarter (445 compromises). It is the most breaches the ITRC has tracked in a single quarter. Through the first half of the year, the ITRC has tracked 1,393 compromises, higher than the total compromises reported every year between 2005 and 2020 except for 2017. This puts 2023 on pace to set a record for the number of data compromises in a year, passing the all-time high of 1,862 compromises in 2021.
The number of victims in H1 (156,637,416) increased 153 percent compared to the first half of 2022 (62,019,351 victims). However, the number of victims disclosed in notices is well behind 2022’s pace. Notices in H1 2023 estimated that 156 million individuals were impacted by a data compromise compared to the 424 million people affected by data events in 2022. The number of data breaches with no actionable information about the root cause of the compromise grew to 534 in H1 2023 compared to 319 in H1 2022, a 67 percent increase.
“The second quarter and first half of 2023 has been historic with regard to data breaches,” said Eva Velasquez, President and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center. “Since we started tracking data compromises in 2005, only the full years of 2017, 2021 and 2022 have exceeded the number of data events recorded in the first six months of 2023. While businesses and individuals may be numb to constant attacks and scams that lead to breaches, it’s important to remain diligent and practice good cyber-hygiene to make any information stolen or exposed less useful for identity criminals.”
Other findings in the H1 2023 Data Breach Report & Analysis include:
- Every sector reported a higher number of data compromises in H1 2023 compared to the previous H1. Healthcare leads the sectors with the most compromises. However, Financial Services firms reported nearly double the number of compromises versus H1 2022.
- Phishing and ransomware were the primary attack vector for cyberattacks. However, the number of malware attacks in 2023 increased 89 percent over the same period last year.
To view our 2022 Annual Data Breach Report or Q1 2023 Data Breach Analysis, click here. Anyone can receive free support and guidance from a knowledgeable live advisor by calling 888.400.5530 or visiting www.idtheftcenter.org to live chat.