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WHAT 2018 TELLS US BY THE NUMBERS

KEY FINDING #1

THE TOTAL NUMBER OF BREACHES REPORTED IN 2018 SAW A

DECLINE COMPARED TO 2017 BUT THE AMOUNT OF RECORDS

CONTAINING SENSITIVE PII GREATLY INCREASED

The total number of breaches reported in 2018 (1,244 breaches) decreased 23 percent from

the total number of breaches reported in 2017 (1,632 breaches), but the reported number of
consumer records containing sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) jumped significantly

– there was a 126 percent increase from 2017 (197,612,748 records exposed) to 2018 (446,515,334
records exposed).

Only half of the total number of breaches reported by the Identity Theft Resource Center in 2018
reported the number of records exposed. It’s important to note that when the reporting entity does

not provide the number of records exposed, the ITRC indicates this as UNK – we do not include an
educated guess or “possible” number of records to ensure that we’re providing the best data quality.

The actual total number of exposed records likely exceeds the reported number substantially.
The Business sector had the largest amount of data breaches, but the lowest rate

of exposure per breach. The Medical/Healthcare sector had the second largest
amount of breaches in 2018, and the highest rate of exposure per breach.

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