Over 17 Billion Personal Accounts Leaked Worldwide Since 2004

Cybersecurity researchers found that data breaches increased globally in the first quarter of 2024, reaching over 17 billion exposed personal accounts. Surf Shark reported a fivefold increase in leaked accounts as compared to last year. The stats show that the US, Russia, and China were the most affected countries in 2024.

The monitoring data from Surfshark indicates that over 17.2 billion accounts have been breached since 2004, with approximately 6.5 billion having unique email addresses. This suggests that some accounts were breached multiple times due to people using the same email or password for different online profiles.

To address this ongoing threat, Surfshark emphasizes the importance of creating strong passwords, avoiding reuse, and being cautious when sharing personal information online. In terms of breaches by country, the US leads with three billion breached accounts since 2004, followed by Russia, China, France, and Germany.

Looking at per capita breaches, Russia has the highest rate with 16.8 accounts breaches per resident. This is followed by the US, South Sudan, France and Czechia. Other countries among the top ten most breached include Brazil, UK, India, Italy and Canada.

These findings highlight the persistent and widespread nature of data breaches, underscoring the need for individuals and organizations to prioritize cybersecurity measures to protect personal information online.

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by Mahrukh Shahid via Digital Information World