the Fraudian Slip Podcast: Identity Theft Resource Center – ITRC Publication on 2024 Data Breaches Highlights Eye-Opening Findings

Summary

• The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) released its 19th annual Data Breach Report, which looks at the number of data compromises, the root cause of the compromises and much more.  
• Some trends from the report on 2024 data breaches include a near-record number of data compromises (44 events away from tying the report), a 312 percent increase in victim notices and 1.4 billion victim notices from six mega-breaches.  
• The top five data breaches in 2024 based on victim notices issued were Ticketmaster Entertainment, LLC, Advance Auto Parts, Inc., Change Healthcare, DemandScience by Pure Incubation and AT&T.  
• You can learn more about the reported 2024 data breaches, trends, and other topics discussed in the podcast by visiting our company website, www.idtheftcenter.org.  
• If you think you have been the victim of an identity crime, call or text the ITRC toll-free by phone (888.400.5530) or live chat on our website to speak with an expert advisor.  

Below is a transcript of our podcast with James E. Lee, President of the Identity Theft Resource Center 

Welcome to the Fraudian Slip, the Identity Theft Resource Center’s (ITRC) podcast, where we talk about all things identity compromise, crime and fraud that impact people and businesses. Listen on Apple, Google, Spotify, SoundCloud, Audible and Amazon now. Typically, on this podcast, we would introduce a topic, a guest expert, and our CEO, Eva Velasquez. However, this month, we focus on trends from the 2024 data breaches reported and tracked by the ITRC, highlighted in our annual data breach report. As we have said before, put on your chin guard now because you don’t want to injure your jaw when it hits the ground as we review the numbers and the dynamics behind them. 

We have a recording of ITRC President James E. Lee talking about the 2024 Annual Data Breach Report, which looks at the number of data compromises, the root cause of the compromises, the types of data compromised, trends, solutions and much more.   

Some of the Top Trends from the 2024 Data Breaches Reported Include: 

• The number of U.S. data compromises in 2024 (3,158) decreased one (1) percent compared to 2023 (3,202), 44 events away from tying a record for the number of compromises tracked in a year. 
• The number of data breach notices issued in the past year (1,728,519,397) increased 312 percent from 2023 (419,337,446). The increase was primarily due to six “mega-breaches” that resulted in at least 100 million breach notices being issued in each event.  
• Mega-breach victim notices totaled more than 1.4 billion of the more than 1.7 billion victim notices issued in 2024. If the six mega-breaches are excluded, the ~266 million other victim notices issued in 2024 decreased by 36 percent compared to 2023. 
• Approximately 70 percent of cyberattack-related breach notices did not include attack information, compared to 58 percent in 2023. In 2019 and previous years, ~100 percent of breach notices included attack vector information. 

Listen to a breakdown of all the findings above. You can download a copy of the ITRC’s 2024 Annual Data Breach Report highlighting all of the 2024 data breaches at our website, www.idtheftcenter.org/reports, or click here.  

You can learn more about protecting your identity, privacy, or security or get help if you have been the victim of an identity crime by visiting the Federal Trade Commission’s website, www.identitytheft.gov. 

Contact the ITRC 

If you think you have been the victim of an identity crime or want to avoid becoming a victim, you can speak with an ITRC expert advisor toll-free by phone or text (888.400.5530), chat live on the web or send us an email during our normal business hours (Monday-Friday 6 a.m.-5 p.m. PT). Just visit www.idtheftcenter.org to get started. 

Be sure to like this episode and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts. We will return next week with another episode of our sister podcast, the Weekly Breach Breakdown, and next month with another edition of the Fraudian Slip.