The 10 Biggest Data Breaches of 2022 (So Far)

July 01, 2022, 02:38 PM EDT

The number of victims per incident may be down, but the number of actual breaches continues to rise, according to the Identify Theft Research Center.

The good news about data breaches so far in 2022: The number of victims per cyberattack appears to be down compared to last year.

But the bad news is that the actual number of reported breach incidents increased by 14 percent, to 404, during the first quarter of 2022, compared to the same period in 2021, according to data from the Identify Theft Research Center.

And the average payment for ransomware attacks has increased by 71 percent from last year, with average payouts now approaching $1 million.

So the bottom line: It’s been one step forward, two steps back when it comes to preventing data breaches and their financial consequences.

According to data from the Identify Theft Research Center, health-care institutions, financial services companies, manufacturers and utilities continue to be the top targets of hackers.

The center also reports that phishing and ransomware attacks account for most of the reported data breaches, based on first quarter stats. Other causes of breaches include malware, credential stuffing and unsecured cloud tools.

But 154 of the 404 filed incident reports in the first quarter did not specify the cause of a breach, an increase in the lack of transparency, the center said.

Following are the 10 biggest breaches so far in 2022, according to data and information compiled by the Identify Theft Research Center and CRN. Click through our slideshow for more details.