Nearly five billion private records have been exposed globally since 2013, with data breaches increasing by 15% in the first half of the year compared to the previous six months, according to Gemalto.
The digital security firm claimed in its latest Breach Level Index that in excess of 4.8 billion records have now been stolen – that’s 41 every second – with encryption used in just 4% of cases.
The UK was highlighted as having the second highest volume of breaches – 61 – after the United States (728), with the rest of Europe on only 25.
The UK was also responsible for the largest breach in the report period – an attack on dating site Fling which compromised 40 million records.
There wasn’t much to choose between malicious outsiders – responsible for 48% of breaches in the UK – and accidental loss (43%).
Globally, healthcare was the most breached industry, accounting for 27% of the total, which is an increase of a quarter. However, the sector was responsible for just 5% of compromised records versus 12% the previous six months.
Government, on the other hand, was responsible for the majority (57%) of compromised records but accounted for just 14% of all breaches.
Other heavily breached sectors included financial services (12%) and retail (11%) – but these accounted for just 2% and 3% of compromised records respectively.
Gemalto data protection CTO, Jason Hart, was quick to point out the distinction between ‘nuisance’ breaches and those with more serious repercussions.
“A breach involving 100 million user names is not as severe as a breach of one million accounts with social security numbers and other personally identifiable information that are used for financial gain,” he explained.
“That is why more focus needs to be understanding what really constitutes sensitive data, where it is stored, and using the best means to defend it.”