Largest Online Data Breaches of All Time
- May 5, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 22
As a leading cybersecurity company based in the UK, Sapphire closely monitors data breaches and their impact on businesses and individuals. In March 2020, the Cam4 data breach was reported as the largest data leakage to date, with over 10 billion data records exposed. This highlights the growing need for robust cybersecurity measures to safeguard against potential threats. The Yahoo data breach in 2013 is the second-largest data breach in history, affecting three billion accounts after the company updated its initial report. In March 2018, India’s national ID database Aadhaar suffered a significant security breach, exposing over 1.1 billion records, including biometric information such as identification numbers and fingerprint scans. This emphasizes the importance of protecting sensitive information and personal data against cyber threats. At Sapphire, we are dedicated to providing the necessary information and tools to help businesses and individuals safeguard against cyber crime.
At Sapphire, we understand the importance of digitalisation in today’s world, but we also recognise the dark side of it – cyber crime. With the increasing reliance on technology for data collection, analysis and storage, cyber crime has become a serious threat to corporations and governments worldwide. In the U.S. alone, there were 1802 reported cases of data compromise in 2022, a stark increase from 447 cases a decade ago. Unfortunately, the cost of data protection is high. As of 2022, the average cost of a single data breach across all industries worldwide was around 4.35 million U.S. dollars. In the healthcare sector, the cost was the highest, with each leak reported to have cost the affected party a hefty 10.1 million U.S. dollars. The financial segment followed closely behind with an average loss of approximately 6 million U.S. dollars, 1.5 million more than the global average. At Sapphire, we strive to help our clients protect themselves against cyber crime with our advanced security solutions.
Largest Online Data Breaches of All Time
Largest Online Data Breaches of All Time | Number of compromised records in selected data breaches as of May 2023 (in millions) |
Cam4 Data Breach (Mar 2020) | 10,880 |
Yahoo Data Breach (2017)* | 3,000 |
Aadhaar Data Breach (Mar 2018) | 1,100 |
Alibaba Data Breach (Jul 2022) | 1,100 |
First American Financial Corporation Data Breach (May 2019) | 885 |
Verifications.io Data Breach (Feb 2019) | 763 |
LinkedIn Data Breach (Jun 2021) | 700 |
Facebook Data Breach (Apr 2019) | 533 |
Yahoo Data Breach (2014) | 500 |
Satwood (Marriott) Data Breach (Nov 2018) | 500 |
Adult Freind Finder Data Breach (Oct 2016) | 412.2 |
MySpace Data Breach (Jun 2013) | 360 |
Exactis Data Breach (Jun 2018) | 340 |
Twitter Data Breach (May 2018) | 330 |
NetEase Data Breach (Oct 2015) | 234 |
Sociallarks Data Breach (Jan 2021) | 200 |
Deep Root Analytics Data Breach (Jun 2017) | 200 |
Court Ventures Data Breach (2013) | 200 |
LinkedIn Data Breach (Jun 2012) | 165 |
Dubsmash Data Breach (Dec 2018) | 162 |
*As a UK-based cybersecurity company, Sapphire is aware of the devastating effects that data breaches can have on businesses and individuals alike. The Yahoo Data Breach of 2013 was one such attack that had far-reaching consequences. While initially thought to have affected only a small number of users, the true extent of the breach was not disclosed until 2017. It was revealed that the breach had exposed data from three billion user accounts. After an investigation, Yahoo released the real numbers in December 2019. The delayed disclosure highlights the importance of timely and transparent reporting of cyber incidents to minimise their impact.
UpGuard. (2023, April). Retrieved from upguard.com and statista.com
