Findings by Atlas VPN, a cybersecurity firm,  based on a 2020 Year End Data Breach QuickView Report revealed that 2020 had 37 billion leaked data records globally, showing a 140 percent increase from the 15 billion recorded in 2019.

The report gave names as the most commonly exposed type of data, evident in 46 percent of the data breaches in 2020, and email addresses as a close second with 32 percent  of breaches. It also noted that in 676 breaches last year,  ransomware was seen as an attack element. A 100 percent increase compared to its findings in 2019.

The report also rounded up the sectors that faced the most hacks and exposure. The healthcare industry came first with the most hacks at 484, 12 percent of all last year’s breaches.

The information sector came after with 429 hacks, a 11 percent of data breaches last year and last was the finance and insurance sector  with 382 hacks, 10 percent of 2020’s data breaches. 

Though the number of leaked records hit new highs in 2020, Atlas VPN stated that the number of actual data breaches reduced from 7,553 breaches in 2019 to 3,932 in 2020.

The analysis broke down data breach threats to three categories; external actors, insider threats, and unknown actors.