The Identity Theft Resource Center® (ITRC), a nationally recognized nonprofit organization established to support victims of identity crime, released its third quarter data breach findings for 2024 in the U.S, revealing 672 publicly reported data breaches in Q3 – down 8% compared to Q3 of 2023.
While the findings report a rarity of declines in number of data compromises and a significant decrease in the number of impacted victims – primarily due to two mega breaches reported in Q2 – supply chain attacks soared to a 203 percent increase in Q3, with 91 organizations affected by attacks against third-party vendors.
Key Findings for Q3
- Year-to-Date (YTD) Total:
- 2024 YTD: 2,242 compromises
- This is 70% of the total compromises in 2023
- A record-high number of compromises in 2024 is unlikely
- Number of Victims:
- Q3 2024: 241,889,316 victims
- Q2 2024: 1,043,903,153 victims
- Change: 77% decrease compared to Q2
- Note: The high number of Q2 victims was primarily due to two breaches that accounted for 940 million victims
- Breaches with no information:
- 50 data breaches reported in Q3 with no information on type or root cause
- 850,000 victims were impacted in these breaches
- Lack of information can result in similar attacks
- Most compromised industries:
- Financial services topped the list, followed closely by healthcare
President and CEO of ITRC, Eva Velasquez, emphasizes that organizations must not waiver in their efforts to secure sensitive data.
“While we will likely not set a new record for the number of data compromises in a single year as we did in 2023, there are some interesting trends in the Q3 2024 Data Breach Report. In particular, the number of businesses reporting multiple data breaches in the past 12 months and the return of mega-data breaches that impact more than 100 million people. These trends prove that businesses must continue to prioritize data and identity protection, and consumers must take the steps needed to make their information less valuable to criminals.” – Velasquez
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Download ITRC’s Q3 Report here.