The Rise of the Mega Breach and What Can Be Done About It

A data breach occurs when sensitive data records from an organization are released either intentionally or unintentionally to an untrusted environment. This research examines mega breaches, data breaches that constitute the loss of a million records or more, and how organizations have responded to recent mega breaches. Data from 2,273 data breaches that occurred between 2005 and 2015 that involved the confirmed loss of records are analyzed. This data is used to examine recent trends in the occurrences of mega breaches as well as the different categories of breaches and the different entities affected by breaches. In addition, this research examines methods that can be employed by organizations in order to prevent data breaches, such as encryption and employee training.