The financial services sector has now overtaken healthcare as the industry with the highest number of data compromises.
New research from Alta Technologies analyzed information from the Identity Theft Resource Center 2024 Data Breach Report to determine which industries experienced the highest number of data breaches in 2024. shows the industry, which includes jobs such as accountants, bankers, and financial analysts, experienced 737 data compromises throughout 2024. Since 2018, healthcare had previously been the most attacked industry.
The financial services industry generated a staggering total of 48 million victim notices in 2024. A victim notice is when a formal communication is sent to the affected individuals after a data breach occurs, highlighting the scale of those impacted.
Healthcare, which includes roles such as doctors, dentists, and pharmacists, experienced a total of 536 data compromises in 2024. This affected approximately 47 million individuals. This is a significant drop compared to 2023 when the sector saw 811 data compromises in 2023, which resulted in 60 million victim notices.
The professional services industry experienced the third-highest number of data with a total of 345 reported data breaches but only three million victim notices. Manufacturing occupies the fourth slot, with 317 data compromises, this led to the distribution of 51 million victim notices throughout 2024. This represents an increase over 2023 in which there were 258 compromises.
Corey Donovan, president of Alta Technologies, says:
Ultimately, this research highlights the concerning upward trend of cyberattacks across various industries. While some sectors, like healthcare and education, have been making active efforts to decrease the number of cyberattacks, this research still shows that there is more to be done to significantly mitigate the number of people impacted by data breaches.
The data is also incredibly concerning for the financial services industry, which notably stores a large amount of sensitive information.
Implementing effective technical controls and providing frequent staff training are two of the most significant methods to reduce these alarming figures. Maintaining strong cybersecurity practices is critical when it comes to data protection, which is why it’s disappointing to see certain industries experience a recent rise in cyberattacks.
Staff should remain vigilant at all times to prevent cyberattacks, such as flagging any suspicious attachments in emails and employing multi-factor authentication for any sensitive information.
The top 10 is rounded out by education, non-profits, technology, government, mining and construction, and retail. Other industries notably at risk of cyberattacks include transportation, hospitality, and utilities. In fact, the data reveals that the data breaches in the hospitality sector impacted the largest number of individuals, with a staggering 565 million people impacted by the industry’s 69 data breaches in 2024.
You can read more on the Alta Technologies site.
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