According to an analysis by the Dark Web Monitor, the number of companies affected by data leaks remains very high. However, the leaked data probably affects fewer users. In 2019 there were even 9,3 million users.
The latest analysis of NordVPN’s Dark Web Monitor data shows that the number of companies whose data has been leaked remains high. At the same time, the number of users affected by these leaks has dropped 2019 times since 18. However, with nearly two-thirds (62%) of Dark Web Monitor users' data still available on the dark web, the risk of data breaches remains very high.
Old and new user data on the Dark Web
In 2019, the average number of users affected by a breach was 9,3 million per incident. In 2022, that number has dropped to 497.000 per incident.
In addition, it was noted that the number of data leaks affecting many customers has decreased. In 2019, about a third of security breaches affected more than 1 million users. In 2020, this proportion dropped to 18%. By 2021, only 10% of security breaches will affect millions of users. In 2022, that number has even dropped 17%.
“On the one hand, the decline in affected users is good news. On the other hand, we don't see cybercrime decreasing because of these numbers. A report by Verizon shows that around 50% of security incidents in 2021 will be due to leaked credentials. This means criminals continue to misuse the data that leaked on the dark web in the past,” said Daniel Markuson, cybersecurity expert at NordVPN.
Data leaks and hacks happen regularly
🔎 Due to hacks from company sites, a lot of user data still ends up on the dark web (Image: NordVPN).
NordVPN researchers analyzed data breaches with a known date of the incident, which account for about 7% of data breaches. However, a clear trend can also be seen here: Users are less likely to be affected by security gaps in companies.
The chart below shows that the number of security breaches increased from 2012 to 2018, with a slight decrease in 2018 and 2019. In 2020, the number of companies falling victim to security breaches peaked due to the Covid-19 pandemic and increasing corporate vulnerabilities.
Covid-19 zenith already passed
Looking at the last two years, the number of attacks on companies remains high. However, most data leaks affected fewer than a million users, which may be due to the fact that the companies invest significant resources in protecting their customers.
The graph below shows the number of leaked phone numbers and email addresses per incident. While the number of leaked records per incident was very high in 2019 (at least 9,3 million affected users per incident), it has since fallen 18-fold.
62 percent became victims of data abuse
According to Dark Web Monitor data, 62% of dark web users have been victims of data breaches. At the same time, the majority of users ignore the warnings to take action and change their digital habits.
“Most companies do everything in their power to protect their customers' data. So when businesses are hacked, consumer data is less likely to be affected. But users need to be even more vigilant, as 95% of cybersecurity incidents are caused by human error,” said Daniel Markuson, cybersecurity expert at NordVPN.
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About NordVPN
NordVPN is one of the most advanced VPN providers in the world, already used by millions of internet users. NordVPN offers double VPN encryption, Onion Over VPN and guarantees privacy without data storage. One of NordVPN's most important features is Threat Protection, which blocks malicious websites, viruses, trackers, and ads.